Nightblade - Brave Song
by KnightEstoc
Summary: Songs can bring back old memories and make them seem like it was just yesterday. But, there are some memories that are best left buried...
1. First Verse

**First Verse**

* * *

I exhaled slowly, centering my weight. The music playing in my ears was just noise, really; I only had it playing to keep the beat while I exercised.

As soon as the intro to the song finished shifted to the main melody I dropped to the ground and started my warm-up routine. It was second nature by this point, after doing it every time I trained in the Kirigaya dojo. I was glad Sugu and Kazuto let me use their dojo for training - even though I didn't use it often, it was still an open space I didn't have back home.

 _Make your Hi-Fi feelings ring with a heart-pounding, super-dimensional melody~_

The music swelled and I grinned, singing along to the music while smoothly finishing my push-ups and swinging into sit-ups without much of a break to catch my breath. Obviously, my voice was tight and uncontrolled, thanks to my exercising, but it was still a catchy song to sing along to.

It helped that I didn't have to worry about earbuds or headphones or anything like that. No, this music was coming from somewhere else, even though it sounded like it was coming from inside the room. And it was all thanks to the little half-moon shaped piece of plastic and metal hooked around my left ear, secure against my cheek and the back of my head. The Augma - the first Augmented Reality device.

Apparently it had been in development for a while, though it had only recently been released. Only a few weeks had passed since its release, and already I could see the little thing on a good minority of the people wandering around outside. It made sense that it was more prevalent than the AmuSphere and the NerveGear; after all, since it was AR, people could walk around while using it. That made it really convenient for day-to-day activities, like chatting with friends and maintaining awareness of fitness and other activities.

Or, like I'm doing, make exercising more than just routine.

I stood up from my stretches and rolled my shoulders, cracking my knuckles. "Begin Target Practice," I said out loud to the thin air.

"Beginning," the Augma answered in a pleasant feminine voice as I drew back into a guard position. "Three, two, one, start!"

A multi-colored ring flashed up in the corner of my vision, and I stamped my foot before lunging for it. My fist rushed forward and slammed into the center of the bulls-eye, earning me a satisfying crunching sound as the target shattered around my fist. Grunting, I turned and smashed my elbow backwards against another target before extending my fist in a backhand aimed at the target above it.

The next target was a little too far away for me to reach in time with a punch, so I took a step before drawing my knee up and kicking out. My kick landed on target, dead center of the ring, but this time the target didn't shatter. Instead, it buzzed and flashed red before disappearing. "Tsk," I clicked my tongue, taking the small delay in target appearances to regain my balance, bouncing on the balls of my feet in time with the quick beat of the pop music.

Need to work on my form... If I didn't strike correctly, the target wouldn't shatter. That's why I was using this little game as part of my training, after all - I didn't have an instructor watching over me most of the time, so I had to make sure I didn't slip into bad habits.

"Hah!" I spun and snapped out a roundhouse kick to the target I'd heard appear behind me. This time it crunched satisfyingly, and I grinned fiercely before immediately slamming my foot down and launching into a combo that took out two more targets.

Five minutes of target practice. That's how long I had to last. By the time the buzzer rang and the program ended, I was sweating heavily, panting for breath. Staggering over to the wall, I grabbed a drink and wiped off the worst of the sweat.

"Heya, Nick."

I looked over and smiled, absently killing the pop song playing as background music. The voice had come from the brown-haired girl entering the dojo; she was wearing a loose brown shirt that left her neckline bare, revealing the strap of the dark shirt she was wearing underneath. I think I remember my sisters calling it a camisole? She also had shorts on, covering her thighs and not much else. "Kana!" I took another swig from the water bottle and approached my girlfriend.

"Ack!" She took a step away, pretending to hold her nose. "You're sweaty, don't hug me."

"But I love you!" Still, I stopped a few paces away. "I'm not late yet, am I? I set my Augma to remind me, but I might have missed it."

Kana grinned. "Nah, you're good. I just couldn't pass up the chance to see you shirtless." Her eyes roamed up and down my body, and I had the strangest feeling I was being objectified. "Mmmm..."

"Guess I'll put on a show," I said with a grin. "Your Augma's up and running?" Kana nodded with a smile, her messy hair bouncing a little bit. As soon as I had confirmation, I cracked my neck before kicking up the music again. Same song; I'd put it on loop. "Begin Target Practice, Level Five."

"Beginning!" the Augma chirped.

Normally, I ramped things up slowly, starting with the lowest setting, the targets, and then clearing each progressive stage. It was designed to test the user and push them until they can't possibly win.

"Three!"

That being said, I was in a hurry. That's why I was exercising now instead of later tonight, and why Kana had come by the Kirigaya home.

"Two!"

So, I mean, it's okay if I skip three levels, right?

"One!"

A harsh breath ripped out of me and I forced myself to relax. A tense body reacted slower than a relaxed body, and I needed to have quick reactions here.

 _Echo with an upbeat rhythm! Your heartbeat is compelled to accelerate~_

As soon as my first enemy appeared I was already moving, smashing my right fist against its face. The punch was strong enough to register and the black-clad ninja shattered like glass, falling apart as its feet went forward and what remained of its head went back. I didn't hesitate, spinning on my foot to add more momentum to the backfist I unleashed on the next closest ninja. The attack smashed into its stomach - hard enough to stun it, but not enough to kill - and I turned away to deal with the other attackers.

Hands flashed towards me from my left, and a foot from my right; I blocked both attacks simultaneously, feeling the jolt of vibration run up my arms before dismissing the sensation and grabbing the ninja's arm with my left hand. A quick twist and I had the arm in a lock, pinned up against the shoulder. I exhaled harshly and pulled up abruptly, hearing a faint _crunch_ over the sound of the music. I shoved the ninja with the now-broken arm into the path of another attacker closing you before rushing forward, taking advantage of the blocked sightline to close in. I punched the broken-armed ninja, killing it, and stepped forward to put my fist through the chest of the second one.

The Augma made fighting like this fun. With every punch, I _felt_ the feedback of my fist hitting a person's body, even though I knew I was just punching the air. I was able to better judge the strength of my blows on something I didn't have to worry about hurting - because that was the entire point. The best part -

"Gah!" I grunted as a fist slipped past my guard and struck my ribs. The sensation was fleeting, I lashed out and knocked the head off my opponent seconds later, but it was still unexpected and distracting.

\- was that the Augma worked both ways. Thanks to special clothes designed to work with the Augma I could feel the impact as if I'd actually been punched, even if it was just the AR collision, so mistakes were punished; but, there weren't any lasting effects like a cracked rib that would last for a long time. The Augma would be able to simulate a cracked rib, but the second I shut down the training program or whatever game I was playing, it would disappear.

Level Five of the Target Practice game was something I'd never managed to clear, despite my best attempts. Even when I was relatively fresh, like right now, the sheer number of opponents meant that sooner or later I'd end up being overwhelmed. And that happened again this time; taking one blow distracted me and I lost ground, ending up fighting two at once. That would slowly spiral out of control, into three, then four, then six.

Exactly what happened this time.

By the end, I was pinned to the ground, unable to fight back as the ninjas pummeled me. "Training end!" the Augma chirped, and my assailants vanished, along with the nonstop vibration of the impacts.

Groaning and rubbing my neck, I rolled my shoulders. "Ugh... One of these days," I muttered, ignoring the small addition of points to my score. It was enough to push me up a rank or two, but that was it. When you're as high as I am, there were huge gaps in score.

Kana approached, tossing me a towel and holding out the water bottle. "It's okay that you lost, I still love you," she assured me, a knowing smirk on her face.

"Oh ha ha," I grumbled, wiping off the sweat that had accumulated from the five-minute fight against infinite ninjas. Cliché enemy choice, yes, but it _was_ a good workout. "How much time do I have?"

"Enough time to take a shower," Kana told me in a firm voice. "You're kinda gross right now."

I gulped down some cold water and lowered the bottle. "Okay, got it. I'll go ask Sugu if I can borrow theirs." Driving home would be a pain and _definitely_ put me behind schedule. But Kana was right, I felt gross. My hair was plastered to my forehead from sweat, and my skin felt sticky.

Kana grinned. "You do that. Since you're picking up Shino, I'll use the extra time to make it to the mall."

My returning smile was apologetic. "Sorry, Kana, I'd give you a ride -"

"But Shino needs one, and your bike only seats one, I know," my girlfriend waved my apology away with a hand. "I've told you a thousand times I don't mind, silly boy."

I grinned and reached out, resting my hand on my girlfriend's head. She grinned wordlessly and lightly pushed against my hand before I left the dojo, dragging my shirt and the towel with me. The April air was a bit brisk on my exposed skin and I hurried to cross the small distance between the dojo and the Kirigaya house proper, sliding the door open and slipping inside.

Sugu was already waiting for me with another bottle of water. "My beloved little sister," I said with a grin, accepting the water. "Anticipating my every need."

"I figured you'd be thirsty when you only brought one bottle to the dojo," she said. "I saw Kana come in, are you leaving?"

"Soon," I said, "but I kinda need to take a shower before I leave. Can I..." I trailed off and just pointed upwards.

Sugu smiled. "Sure. Go ahead and use the soap, too, it's fine."

"You're the _best_ ," I said. "Oh hey, where's Kazuto? Did he already leave?"

Like always when I mentioned her brother, she brightened up and then immediately sighed. "Yeah, Kazuto already left," she said. "And I was looking forward to spending my last day here with him..."

I ruffled her hair playfully. "Don't worry, your kendo camp won't last _too_ long." Sugu complained but suffered through my affection until I was finished patting her head. With a chuckle I let her get back to what she was doing and headed upstairs to the bathroom.

A quick shower later, I was munching on a protein bar as I prepared to leave to go pick up Shino. Need to refuel, after all. As I drove, I saw the occasional drone flying overhead, acting as network supporters for the Augma as a whole, and the main AR game in particular. Ordinal Scale... An AR game where everyone that played was ranked as a matter of course. A lot of things earned points to go up in rank, and ranks came with bonuses; usually it was in terms of discounts at stores all over the place. Of course the game would be popular, if just playing it earned you free stuff.

The song on the radio switched, and I grinned. And there was that, too. Yuna, the game's mascot, acted as an idol; the songs she sang were wildly popular with everyone in my little family. Keiko and Sugu in particular were huge fans - I think Keiko knew all of the songs by heart by this point, with how often she listened to them. Yuna was popular, and her first concert was scheduled for the end of the month. I was looking forward to it, actually, despite roundly despising social events.

Who knows. Maybe I was growing up a little bit. Heh.

* * *

My bike purred quietly as I parked outside the mall. As soon as I killed the engine, the arms wrapped around my waist let go as my passenger got off the bike. I watched with muted amusement as Shino pulled the helmet off and shook her head, briefly running her fingers through her hair. "Remind me why I ride on this deathtrap of yours?" she asked me.

I grinned wider. "Because you're an adrenaline junkie that can't get enough? Because you love pressing yourself up against my strong, muscular back? Because you need a ride from your school and Kazuto wasn't available?"

Shino glared at me briefly. If we were in ALO, her Cait Sith ears would have twitched in irritation. "Watch it," she grumbled, tossing me the spare helmet. I caught it easily, locking it on the bike with my own and following her inside. "I can still leave, you know."

"What a shame," I sighed dramatically. "My little sister, acting so distant from me... She's running hot and cold today."

"Grrr," Shino growled. I just laughed, the bright sound doing a lot to break Shino's feigned irritation. With a small smile on her face, the black-haired girl walked towards the mall, and I followed her inside.

It didn't take long to find Kana; my girlfriend was waiting by the entrance, her purse resting on the bench beside her. As soon as she saw the two of us, she rushed over -

\- and hugged Shino tightly. I blinked in surprise, having expected the rush to be for _me_. Shino noticed my surprise and grinned at me over Kana's shoulder; in return, I just stuck my tongue out at her. Clearly, I am the model of a mature high-school graduate in how I respond to a girl the same age as Sugu.

"I'm glad you two made it," Kana said, pulling away from Shino. "I was starting to get bored."

"I got here as soon as I could," I said with a shrug. "Not my fault Shino lives so far away."

"Taking the train is sounding more and more attractive," the girl sighed. I just grinned; we all knew she didn't _really_ mean it. She was my friend and I was hers, even if we constantly squabbled.

Turning to Kana, I asked, "So where to first, catling? You and Shino were the two that put this together, I'm just here for holding bags."

"You're here for more than that," my girlfriend assured me with a kind smile. "Now c'mon, bag holder, our first stop's over here."

'Over here' turned out to be, naturally, a clothing store that dealt in... well, basically anything a girl Shino or Kana's age could possibly want to wear. I sighed the long-suffering sigh of every boyfriend ever and followed the girls inside, before pulling up a simple game on the Augma and playing that while I followed them around. I mostly tuned out their conversation and did my best to solve the math puzzles in my head; the first few were easy and rewarded me with point totals in the single digits, but as the puzzles grew more complex the rewards scaled to match.

"Nick?" Hm, if I put a three there... "Nick." And then I just fill in the blanks and - "Nick!" Kana all but shouted at me.

I blinked in surprise; a few other shoppers looked over at the commotion and giggled before returning to what they were doing. Refocusing on my girlfriend, I realized Kana had planted her hands on her hips in front of me, with Shino standing behind her, arms folded. "Uh..." Whoops. I think I've screwed up. "What were you saying?"

"I was saying, we need to go to the changing rooms," Kana said with admirable patience. "C'mon."

Eh? I guess they found something already... Though I don't see Shino or Kana holding anything. Most likely, one of them will run out to grab whatever they picked out while the other is getting changed. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," I said, tapping the last few answers in and dismissing the completed puzzle. I followed Kana and Shino to the nearest changing rooms, glancing around almost curiously as we entered the first open door. I glanced around curiously; they were bigger than the rooms in stores I visited, with more room for clothes to hang. The full-length mirror and the bench along the side of the wall were the same, though. It'd been a while since I'd actually gone shopping for clothes, since I didn't need anything new.

"You sure I can be in here?" I asked idly as Kana put her purse down and started going through it. "I'm a guy, after all."

"Just sit," Kana waved at the bench. "We need you here anyway."

I did as she requested. "What for?" I asked her. "You're going clothes-shopping, I can take a look just as easily outside the changing rooms. Besides, you know what I'll say already -"

"That you don't know how to judge clothes but that I look beautiful, I know, I know," Kana grinned at me. "But we definitely need you here. After all, you're the star of the show!"

"Eh?"

My confusion was short-lived as Kana smirked at me, pulling a bag out of her purse. The contents of the bag made what she had planned a little more obvious - a nail file and a bottle of nail polish, along with way too many brushes and tubes. I glanced at Shino in mild panic, and my sister just grinned. "While you're doing that, I'll go purchase everything," she said before slipping out of the room. No! I've been betrayed by my own family!

Despite it, I didn't actually resist as Kana took my hand in hers and started working on my nails. "Shino told me about how you let the girls dress you up at Asuna's," she said. "Naturally, as your girlfriend I couldn't leave a challenge unanswered."

"I don't think it was a challenge," I sighed. Finished with shaping my nails, Kana had me splay them out in the air while she got to work with the polish, each stroke leaving more of my nails a crimson red. "How did you get Shino to go along with this? These clothes aren't cheap."

"Nya hah hah," Kana laughed smugly. "This store offers discounts if your OS rank is high enough. Turns out Shino has some points to spend, and so everything on our agenda today is half off or more."

"That's right," Shino added, returning with clothes draped over her arm. "Oh, good, Kana finished with your nails."

Kana glanced up at the dark-haired girl and smiled. "Get started with the extensions while I work on his makeup, okay?"

I just sighed and resigned myself to another half hour of this.

...

"You look great, stop fidgeting," Kana scolded me.

"I can't help it," I muttered. "I'm not used to... this."

'This' might be referring to the padded bra I was wearing underneath the pale grey blouse they'd chosen for me. 'This' might also be referring to the red skirt; it was loose and frilly, falling to my knees with a slit on the side, but still easy to move around in. 'This' might be referring to the brown boots with a tiny heel on my feet, my legs in black leggings. 'This' might also refer to the makeup - some eyeshadow and blush, along with light lip gloss - or the ponytail I was sporting.

Actually, no, yeah, it was all of those things.

The three of us were sitting at a cafe, enjoying some treats; both Kana and Shino had ordered a coffee with names I couldn't remember or pronounce, while I was nibbling at a chocolate muffin. I might be eating a lot, but I burned a lot of calories; I was able to eat basically whatever I wanted. I had my Augma keeping track of what I'd eaten every day, but I never received a warning for it. What a charmed life I lead.

At least the clothes the girls had chosen for me were easy to move around in. "You look surprisingly at home in it," Shino noted as she sipped at her drink. "I'm not quite sure what that says about you."

"That I don't think what clothes I wear defines my gender," I said easily. "And that I've been cursed to be surrounded by girls that seem to always want me to crossdress. And maybe that this has become distressingly normal over the past few months." Shino cracked a smile, and I counted that a small victory.

"You still love us," the glasses-wearing girl noted. Beside me, Kana giggled and snuggled up against me, letting my arm fall from her shoulder to her hip. "Even when you look pretty."

I just scowled at the both of them, not that I really cared all that much. I enjoyed spending time with Kana and Shino, and if that came at the price of dressing up as a girl, well... Eh, it could be worse.

After we finished the snacks, we just kinda wandered from store to store for a while, browsing. One of my choices was a used bookstore that all _three_ of us got lost in for a good half hour before the Augma alarm Kana had been thoughtful enough to set went off. She managed to convince me to leave, and then it took both of us to drag Shino away from the book of Arthurian myths and legends she'd been devouring. I should have known that shop would be a trap, but I couldn't help it, the smell of old books was calling to me!

As we wandered around the lowest floor of the mall, I could hear music playing in the background. My Augma helpfully identified it and told me where it was coming from - a virtual stage, generated by another Augma user. I glanced at the girls, and they looked just as curious as I felt, so we abandoned the circuit of the floor we'd followed earlier and headed towards the sound.

We found the circle of people easily enough - and the voice of the singer was familiar to all of us. Keiko was dancing around in a circle of virtual spotlights, singing her little heart out to the song - one of Yuna's, I recognized it. It was actually the same song that I'd been working out to. This world has the strangest coincidences.

I tapped Kana on her shoulder and caught Shino's hand while they were busy watching Keiko and started moving around the outside of the crowd to where I saw Kazuto, Asuna, and Rika watching our friend with smiles on their faces. I even saw Yui in her ALO Nav Pixie form, cheering happily.

We stood beside them; they looked our way before their eyes locked on me in surprise. Rika and Asuna grinned after that, while Kazuto stared at me in total confusion. When I just shrugged, he blinked a few times before looking back at Keiko.

Soon enough the song came to an end and Keiko posed cutely, winking to the crowd - before her adoration of Yuna was overcome by the realization of exactly where she was and exactly what she was doing, and she hurried toward us, snatching her bag up as she went. Everyone was applauding, but Keiko didn't hesitate before throwing her arms around me. "Big Sis, that was embarrassing," she wailed, hiding her face in my chest.

"I'm still a guy, Keiko," I reminded her, absently stroking her hair.

"But it'd be weird to call you a boy when you're dressed like this," she mumbled into my chest, before muttering something about how life wasn't fair and I was a boy, not that I knew what she was talking about. I just chuckled and let her hide in my chest while the public was still clapping for her performance. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Kana and Shino decided they wanted to go on a shopping trip," I replied. Beside Rika, Kana grinned smugly at me. "I didn't expect that they'd be shopping for _me_ , though."

Asuna smiled. "You look good, Nick. ...Ah, should we call you something else?"

I just sighed. "Nick is fine, I don't really care... But it's a surprise to run into you four. Was Rika bullying Keiko again?"

"Hey!" the freckled girl protested. "I wasn't bullying her! And what do you mean 'again', anyway?!" I just grinned at the blacksmith, and she clenched a fist. "Why, you..."

The four of them were all wearing their school uniforms, just like Shino. Out of all of us, Kana and I were the only two in casual clothing. Which made sense, since Kana and I were the only two that had graduated. They must have come here directly from school, just like how I picked up Shino from the gates of her school. Finally, the applause from the strangers that had been watching died away and they went back to their regularly scheduled shopping. Keiko pulled away, cheeks red. "That was embarrassing..." she mumbled.

"You were great, Silica!" The happy praise came from an unsurprising source - the small fairy that flew out from behind Kazuto's back and landed on his shoulder. Yui... Another reason the Augma was so popular. Since Yui was virtual data, it could render her as if she was in the real world with us. And she wasn't the only one... "Oh, Uncle! Aunt Argo! I didn't see you arrive!"

"You were too busy watching Keiko," Kana grinned.

Yui paused and tilted her head. "...Where's Din?"

"Sleeping," I shrugged, before tapping through some of the Augma's menus. After I selected an option, I cleared my throat. "Hey, Din, wake up, your girlfriend's here."

Yui blushed a little bit, and I grinned at the look Asuna and Kazuto exchanged. "Nn..." From behind Kana's back - where I knew he hadn't been five seconds earlier - another small fairy flew out, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Yui's not my girlfriend, Dad..." Din mumbled.

I just poked his forehead lightly. "It was time to get up anyway, kid. Go play."

Din nodded and flew over to Yui, before the two fairies lifted off and started flitting around. "He sleeps so much," Shino observed.

Asuna giggled. "Just like his uncle. But I know he got his appetite from his father."

Kazuto and I sighed in shared suffering as the girls giggled from the teasing. After she got herself under control, Keiko looked up at Kazuto with pleading eyes. "K-Kirito?" she stammered. "You're gonna come to the concert with us, right?"

Kazuto blinked, then rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I wasn't planning on it," he admitted. "I'm not much of a fan if you wanna know the truth."

That's right... I'd graduated just a month too early. If Kana and I hadn't graduated, we would have been able to get an Augma _and_ a ticket to Yuna's concert for free. Instead, we both had to buy them; I still don't know how Kana was able to secure two tickets, but I'm glad she did. When I asked, all she did was grin, throw up two peace signs, and say something ridiculous about not underestimating a girl's connections...

"What?!" Keiko exclaimed, looking for all the world like someone had told her Santa wasn't real. "Y-You should go! It'll be fun!"

"Well... I dunno, maybe?" Keiko hung her head at Kazuto's non-answer, and I gently patted her back while a small current of amusement ran through the other girls. "Anyway, I gotta admit, you can do a lot of cool stuff with this gadget," he said, placing a hand on the Augma resting on his cheek. "Still, I think Full Dives are more my thing."

Rika put her hands on her hips. "You're kidding," she said.

Kazuto smiled faintly. "No," he said. "I guess I just got used to living in different worlds."

I looked around, taking in the people around us. Old and young, man and woman, I could see plenty of people standing and walking around. The biggest difference, of course, was the Augma I could see on a good half of them. A father with two young kids was looking at a virtual koala climbing on a tree, and a young couple were sitting on a bench together, playing with a little flying creature that resembled a cute rat with four wings. Beside them, a grandfather was playing with his grandson, an AR dinosaur roaring on his lap and snapping at the kid's fingers.

"You doofus," Rika sighed, glancing at Kazuto. He seemed almost nostalgic when he talked about the virtual world, which... I couldn't exactly _blame_ him, but I'd already confronted that particular conflict a few months ago. "You sound like you wanna go back."

The silence hung over the seven of us for a second, before Keiko clapped her hands. "Oh! Speaking of Aincrad, do you think that rumor about Ordinal Scale is true?"

Shino frowned. "Which rumor?" she asked.

Wonderful! My sister's confusion would swiftly be ended by the most appropriate person here. Naturally, Kana waved a hand. "Don't worry, Shino, I'll clear things up for you!" she chirped. "Just treat me to some cake later and we're good."

"Alright, fine," Shino sighed. She didn't even try to barter with Kana; we all knew it was pointless to get between the infamous Rat and her payday.

Kana grinned. "Deal. Now, the rumor Keiko here mentioned is about the boss fights in Ordinal Scale." She raised a finger. "It seems that old boss monsters from SAO have been popping up over town! They're classified as event battles, but I think there might be something more to it."

I glanced around to check where Yui and Din were. As soon as I spotted them flitting around in the air, I turned my attention back to the conversation. "Really?" Asuna asked. "Is it some kind of promotion?"

"Nobody knows," Kana said, shaking her head. "But if I knew, I'd tell you. They only started appearing last week, and I haven't been able to make it to a fight yet."

I could tell the incomplete information bothered her, and I put my arms around my girlfriend. She blinked up at me for a second before happily snuggling against me, pressing the back of her head against my chest. It felt a little weird, what with the bra, but I got used to the weird sensation. "I feel you," Rika sighed. "I've missed out on all of them too! The locations are super secret until the last minute, so it's hard for folks who don't have a car to get there in time."

Shino looked at Kana. "I'm surprised that you haven't managed to make it to a fight," she said slowly. "If all you need is a ride..."

She trailed off, meeting eyes with the other girls. Asuna hummed in thought, and Keiko nodded twice in agreement. Silently, I watched Kazuto turn around and try to sneak away - before he froze as a notification appeared in front of him. A message appeared in front of all of us, and I scanned both mine and Kana's; it was from Klein. 'Let's do an OS boss raid together!'

Asuna reached out and placed a hand on Kazuto's shoulder. "Ki-ri-to," she, Rika, and Keiko chorused simultaneously, all of them smiling innocently.

I glanced down at Kana, and she stared back up at me, before sighing. "Man, this sucks," she grumbled. "You better tell me everything, got that?"

"Din will record it," I promised her.

Meanwhile, the three girls aiming for a ride from Kazuto were in the middle of a rock-paper-scissors competition. With a wail Rika was knocked out, and I watched with a small smile as Keiko did a little happy dance, her pigtails bouncing. Then, it was just her and Asuna, both girls concentrating like losing here would suck out their souls or something. Simultaneously they threw out their hand -

\- and Keiko drooped as her opponent clenched a fist in victory. "Yes!" Asuna cheered.

Rika and Keiko turned to me. I also had a bike, so I was their second chance - but I shook my head, dashing their hopes. "Sorry," I said with a regretful smile, "but I'm Shino's ride, so she comes with me." Shino smiled faintly, and I grinned at her. "Taking her home means I have no chance to pick anyone else up after dropping her off. Better luck next time?"

"Man," Rika grumbled.

She, Keiko, and Kana said their goodbyes before heading off for home. Meanwhile, Kazuto, Asuna, Shino, and I made our way down to the parking lot. "Are you going to get changed?" Shino asked me as I tossed her the spare helmet on my bike. "It'll be hard to fight, wearing that."

"I could fight in this," I said absently, moving an arm and throwing a few punches experimentally. It felt a little restrictive, but not _too_ bad. "But yeah, the plan is to drop you off and let you get changed, then drive to my house and I get changed, then we head out to wherever the boss is gonna spawn."

"Sounds good," my little sister said, before buckling the strap around her chin. After I'd deliberately embarrassed her in front of her school a few times, she'd insisted she learn how to put it on herself.

I started to put on the helmet, and then paused when my fingers touched the extra-long hair that I'd been saddled with thanks to the hair extensions Shino had used. "Uh... Actually, I might need your help getting this stuff off, so could you..."

Shino sighed. "Yes, I'll help you take the makeup and everything off, just take me home already."

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

I parked on the sidewalk, right beside another familiar bike. As soon as I killed the engine, the arms wrapped around my waist let go as my passenger got off the bike. I watched with muted amusement as Shino pulled the helmet off and shook her head, briefly running her fingers through her hair. "Three times in one day, and I still have to get home..." she grumbled.

"You can always walk to the next one," I said mildly.

She scowled at me. "You know I won't turn down the ride. These boss fights sound fun."

Grinning faintly, I led the way across the street to where the other players were gathering. It was a fairly open space ringed by apartments on all sides of the streets, except the corner store with a large digital screen displaying the time in the old-fashioned analog way. Combining the collection of players and the fact that the roads around us had been blocked off, I could tell we were in the right place. There was another clue, too; a pair of players with their backs to us, one male and one female, and a small group of familiar faces.

Shino and I strolled up to them. Klein looked over for a second, and then grinned. "Hey, Rythin! Sinon! Ya made it!"

"Hey, Klein," I said, waving hello to the scruffy-looking man and his five accomplices. Looks like Fuurinkazanazan was out in force tonight - they were even wearing matching hoodies, which... Cool? I guess? "We're in time?"

"You're good," he grinned. "This thing doesn't start 'til nine."

"We're just in time," Kazuto said, turning to look at me. He hesitated for a second, eyes glancing at me, and I just grinned.

Asuna smiled. "Oh, you changed. That's too bad..."

I just chuckled. "I'm still shocked you managed to drag Kazuto along, Asuna." He wasn't exactly the type to be playing this game; he'd mentioned it earlier, but the rank I could see above his head was in the six digits. Yikes.

Klein grinned and clenched a fist. "Alright, guys," he said, turning to Fuurinkazanazan. "We've got two beauties here to watch us, so let's show them how badass we are!"

"Yeah!"

I felt the strangest surge of protectiveness towards Asuna and Shino. Ah... Is this what it means to be a protective big brother? I won't give them to you, Klein! Even if one is already taken and the other isn't mine to give away! "It's time to start," Asuna said, nudging her boyfriend. I glanced at Shino, and she nodded up at me.

Digging my hand in the pocket of my jacket, I fished out the little plastic wand I'd need. The rest of my family pulled theirs out as well, and we spoke the activation phrase simultaneously. "Ordinal Scale, activate!"

Our bodies flashed as the game system took effect. When the light cleared, we were all wearing something completely different. I knew what I was wearing; it was a simple grey jacket, with black starting at my shoulders and acting as the sleeves. Golden buttons dotted up the front, a black strip going up the center, with dark red trim along the edges of the black sleeves. My belt was also dark red, and a dagger was sheathed on my back, designed for easy drawing. My pants were the same color scheme; dark grey, with blood-red boots. The only modification to the default outfit I'd made was a pair of armored gloves on my hands, for use in punching things.

Standing next to me, Sinon was wearing mostly the same outfit, with only a few color changes; instead of grey, her coat was an olive green, and the color of her trim was a muted ivory color. There were a few other differences, mostly thanks to the fact that she was a girl - her coat flared out and dipped lower, acting almost as a skirt, and she was wearing some black leggings. Naturally, instead of a dagger, she was carrying a sniper rifle.

To my right, I saw Kirito and Asuna. Like me and Sinon, they'd chosen the default look as well - Kirito with white and dark blue, and Asuna with white and red. Kirito had his sword sheathed over his shoulder, while Asuna was equipped with her trusty rapier on her hilt.

The weapons weren't real, of course. We'd just be swinging around the little plastic wands, kept on our wrist with a little loop. They were just the D-Weapons, the game's representation of what we were going to be swinging around.

All around, I saw other players flashing with light as they activated the system. Unlike the four of us, they'd apparently decided to spend some of their points to customize their appearances; I saw a cat-man with a tiger fur pattern, a maid with a battleaxe, and all kinds of players in armor. Klein and Fuurinkazanazan had heavily customized their look as well, choosing samurai-esque equipment in red and gold. It reminded me of what they wore back in Aincrad, actually.

The clock clicked closer to nine, and Sinon waved to us before heading off to the high ground, where her sniping would be put to best use. "Don't choke out there," she warned me with a light teasing tone.

I grinned. "C'mon, this is playing to all of my strengths. Just watch your big brother, I'll make sure to impress you."

"Whatever you say, Rythin," she sighed, but I could hear the amusement in her voice. She jogged off, and I watched until she started heading up stairs to get a sniping perch.

Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to the task at hand. The fight. "Din," I said lowly, and my son appeared with a flash of light. Now that it was nighttime, and that I had a request, I knew he'd be alert. "Keep a good eye on everything that goes on, okay? Stick with Sinon, she'll have a good vantage point."

"You got it, Dad. I'll go find Aunt Sinon." With a small salute Din flew off into the sky, the four wings on his back beating rapidly.

There we go. Sinon's seen off, Din is recording everything so Kana can see it when I get home... And now all that I have to do is _fight_.

My grip on my dagger's hilt tightened as the huge analog clock displayed on the big screen clicked one more minute, the big hand pointing straight up and the little hand making a ninety-degree angle to the left - and then the screen flashed, displaying the time. 21:00...

Right on schedule, the world warped and changed with a deep bass rumble. A rippling wave swept over everything, replacing the soothing sounds and sights of the city around me with something completely different. Cars and non-players at the edge of the arena were replaced by props and NPC-esque aliens milling about. The buildings and nearby trees were transformed as well; they maintained their nature, but the architecture was radically altered into some sort of... classical, gothic architecture? I don't know the right term for it, but there were ornate wrought-iron decorations along the nearby bridge's railing, and the tall store in front of us was transformed into a castle that looked straight out of a video game.

Guess it was appropriate.

The night sky was lit up in sullen red and oranges, helped by the twisting orange neon lights acting as lamps and light sources and I licked my lips. Let's _do this_.

A circle appeared at the far edge of the ring, right by a few other players, and erupted into flames that were nearly purple. The boss was appearing! I grinned fiercely as I unsheathed my dagger, aware of Kirito and Asuna doing the same beside me. Sure, there was lore describing what was going to happen and what our objective was in game terms, but it was pretty simple in execution:

A boss spawned. We killed it.

Let's be about it.

The column of fire roared in the air for a few seconds before bursting apart, little embers raining down and flickering in the air as they faded away. In its place, kneeling in the center of the circle, was a figure I knew pretty well. Let's see... A samurai helmet, with two long spikes poking up in front and a red, grinning demon mask for a face? Red armor on the shoulders, with a breastplate covering the chest and greaves covering the legs? A spiral pattern wrapped around the left arm, and a katana in the right hand? A scarf flapping in the wind? Yeah, I recognized this guy.

"That's..." Asuna gasped.

The kneeling boss rose to its feet, scarf flapping in an intangible wind. "The boss from Floor 10 in Aincrad... Kagachi The Samurai Lord!"

"He looks exactly like him, doesn't he," Asuna murmured.

Kirito's grip on his sword tightened. "Too bad we can't use our Sword Skills here. I wonder if he's gonna use the same attack patterns... Rythin?"

"Worth a shot," I said, mind already flicking through the memories of Aincrad. My right hand's fingers twitched as I slid past the bosses that didn't matter, bringing up everything I remembered about this boss. It hit hard, and like its name suggested it was the lord of the samurai. It had tended to switch aggro easily, targeting whoever had struck it last in some sort of mockery of the samurai's honor.

Movement behind the leering demon mask caught my attention and I glanced over at the bridge; right now, it wasn't moving, so the fight hadn't started, and I could afford to take my eyes off of the boss. A drone was floating around, hovering just over the bridge, until it suddenly started emitting a beam of violet light. A familiar, silver-haired girl descended from nowhere, landing lightly on the stone bridge.

Yuna, the mascot of the game. She was dressed in an idol's outfit, all red and black; the short skirt and her stockings revealed just a bit of her thigh, while the top of her dress hung just below her shoulders. The AI girl dipped into a tiny curtsey, smiling as her flying mascot... thing flew around her. "Y-Yuna?!" Klein yelped, grinning like a loon.

Yuna grabbed a trail of light that was attached to her belt and it formed into a microphone in her hand. "I hope everyone's ready!" she called out, waving cheerfully. "It's time to battle! So, start the music!" She snapped her fingers, and one of her songs started playing. I realized with a start that she was actually singing, and that it wasn't just pre-recorded tracks. Neat!

"Oh, awesome!" somebody said, and I looked over to see the tiger-cat-guy holding a bazooka. "Yuna's singing! It's a special stage with a bonus!" As he said that, the little mascot bird thing started dropping a trail of green sparkles and flew around. As the sparkles touched us, our bodies glowed green with the sign of a buff. Two crossed swords - an attack buff, huh? This stuff kinda reminds me of pixie dust, so maybe if I think happy thoughts I can fly...

At the center of the stage, hovering where everyone could see it, a bright red timer started counting down. The ten-minute time limit to beat the boss had begun.

Concurrent with the timer beginning to count down, Kagachi's eyes flashed, and I immediately focused on nothing but the boss. With a low grumble it leaned forward and started stomping forward, gaining quickly despite the almost ponderous running speed. The players around us mumbled to themselves in excitement and immediately rushed forward, eager to fight this new boss and kill it.

Fools.

As soon as players reached Kagachi, brandishing their weapons, the boss stopped running forward. It grasped its sword with both hands and sliced; the blade flashed with bright light as it cut the air, killing a player instantly and smashing them into the ground, a cloud of dust and pulverized concrete filling the air. Another player approached foolhardily and Kagachi moved smoothly into the second strike of the combo, killing him instantly as well with a vicious horizontal slash. The third player to arrive stopped in time, but it still wasn't enough; as a samurai, a lot of the attacks included movement to close distance. Kagachi's sword flashed again as it stepped forward, smashing into the ground and killing the player instantly.

Less than a minute in and three people are already dead. This is going _wonderfully_.

Kagachi didn't stop, though. Planting the katana in the ground, it raced forward, ripping the massive blade through the concrete. Anyone that was caught in the path of carnage was slaughtered instantly. As soon as it reached a group of players, Kagachi ripped the sword out of the ground with a blast of accompanying wind, knocking them away and covering the field with dust.

Turning around, Kagachi The Samurai Lord roared, its forked tongue flickering from its mouth.

"Do you remember the patterns yet?" Asuna asked me quietly. I shrugged, tilting my hand back and forth. I had a few of them back in my memories, and the familiar feeling of the boss was slotting them into place faster than I expected, but it wasn't enough to be certain.

Kagachi was swiftly surrounded by players, and I had the strangest sensation of watching moths flock to a flame. The players screamed as they were swiftly erased, one sword slash at a time. "I'm gonna piss myself!" "How do we beat this thing?!"

They were getting slaughtered, and it was clear none of them had any experience with a boss like this before. Kirito shook his head and glanced over at us. "What do you say, Kiri-dude?" Klein asked with a grin, hefting his katana.

Before either of us could reply, I heard a player scream and saw Kagachi chasing someone. The poor bastard made the mistake of trying to hide in the overhang of the nearby wall, but it didn't help. "Wait, wait! Time out, time out!" he screamed desperately as Kagachi reared back and slashed, the katana sending up a spray of sparks as it smashed into the ground.

The guy's appearance fuzzed before his virtual equipment broke apart with blue light, fading away to reveal him in just his regular casual clothes, holding the wand in his left hand. He'd been eliminated, and couldn't fight anymore, so had been ejected from the game.

A heavy shot rang out and crashed against Kagachi's back, followed swiftly by more gunfire. Players in the buildings had opened fire from a distance, trying to take advantage of the fact that Kagachi was a swordsman; the first bullet had been from Sinon, and I spotted her up higher than the rest of the players, using her sniper's longer range to her advantage.

Memory flickered through me and I exhaled sharply. "Long-range is countered," I murmured.

"Eh?" Asuna asked me. "Oh! You mean -"

It wasn't very relevant, so I hadn't remembered until just now, but if Kagachi was attacked from a distance, or players ran to gain ground, the boss had more options to respond than just using its mobility to approach. The gunfire was keeping the boss pinned in place, and Kagachi raised an arm to block the worst of the bullets. Another of Sinon's bullets crashed off of its helmet, but I knew it wouldn't be enough to interrupt what was coming. The spiral pattern around Kagachi's left arm glowed and squirmed, rising off of its body and taking the form of a white red-eyed snake.

Kagachi gestured its hand forward and the snake lunged, extending further than thought possible to smash into the building where gunfire had been coming from. Almost lazily, Kagachi moved its hand to the side and the astral serpent followed, squirming in the air and slamming into the building on the other side of the road. The snake ripped through the building and -

\- Oh crap! Kirito, Asuna, the Fuurinkazanazan, and I had just been watching to see how other people handled the boss for the first time, but a glowing coil of the snake was coming straight for us. We scattered, splitting up to dodge the attack; Klein and his friends went left, while Kirito, Asuna, and I jumped right, and the snake's body slammed into the ground between us.

I snarled in irritation as the three of us had to keep running, thanks to Kagachi pulling the snake towards us. "Don't let your HP hit zero!" Klein called out helpfully. "Your rank will get docked!"

"I know that!" Kirito snapped in irritation.

Kagachi was using the snake like a whip, snapping it around to pick off the players too cowardly to approach, and I decided enough was enough. Brandishing my dagger, I split off from Kirito and Asuna and moved inwards to get into its sword range; I could handle that part. Kagachi turned slowly and whipped the snake towards me. My eyes narrowed as I determined the path of the attack and prepared to dodge -

\- only for a sniper rifle round to echo out and smash into the snake's head, driving it into the ground. I didn't hesitate in jumping over it, landing without losing too much speed. I had to remember to thank Sinon later for watching my back! The damage to the snake had been enough to trigger Kagachi's aggro switch and I frowned as he looked up at the building where Sinon was sniping from. My instincts surged, and I snarled. No, you don't!

Kagachi swung its hand back and sent the snake streaking towards Sinon, and I struck, swinging my dagger. The blade flashed with a satisfying slicing sound and passed through the spectral snake, severing its whip easily. Good, that'd take time to respawn. I didn't have time to do more than glance to the side, where the snake had disappeared just a few meters away from smashing into the building, before I was right up in Kagachi's range.

My dagger didn't have much range, which meant I was best directly in front of Kagachi, taking advantage of my mobility against its larger and slower blade. Desperately I swung, digging the point of my dagger into its leg and slashing out before instinctively activating my Acrobatics Skill -

\- except my body didn't move the way I expected, and I gritted my teeth before hitting the ground and scrambling to the side to avoid Kagachi's retaliatory blow. Gah, I'd been fighting this thing like it was an Aincrad boss without thinking... I didn't have my unnatural gymnastic abilities, or the ability to see into the future. What I did have, though, was physical fitness. I rolled and pushed myself to my feet in a smooth motion before kicking forward and driving my dagger into the boss's side. Who knew martial arts would come in handy here? I twisted the dagger and ripped upwards, leaving a vertical slash in Kagachi's body.

"Rythin, switch!"

I jumped back without thinking twice, letting Fuurinkazanazan rush past me. I backed up cautiously, not taking my eyes off of the boss, until someone placed their palm on my back. I glanced to the side to see Asuna smiling at me, and I stepped to the side so that I didn't run into her.

"Come on, you guys," Klein shouted, before raising his katana in the air. "That bonus has our name on it!"

"Yeah!" the rest of his guild shouted, brandishing their weapons.

They engaged the boss as it swung its katana down in a two-handed swing that could and probably would kill any of us almost instantly. They were expecting it, though, and... Dynamm, that's his name, the one wearing a bandana. He met the downwards slash with his small buckler, the impact ringing out with the sound of steel on steel. "I got it!" he shouted through gritted teeth, struggling to match the weight.

"Nice block!" Klein called as he and... Dale? The heavy one with the two-handed sword, at any rate... both slashed the boss. I relaxed a little bit when I saw the lines of damage; that was definitely enough to shift Kagachi's attention off of me. Sure enough, as Klein and Dale kept running, Kagachi turned and started chasing after them, its heavy footsteps closing in on them. "Tank!" Klein shouted.

"I'm on it!" The tank of the group, a black-haired guy I think called Harry One, jumped in. He used a hammer and a tower shield to fight; in this case, he raised the tower shield over his head protectively. Kagachi's blade crashed down in a shower of sparks, the shield ringing out hollowly, and Harry One gritted his teeth. Shoving forward, he knocked the boss off-balance, making it take a stumbling step back - and the other two members of Fuurinkazanazan, Issin and Kunimittz lunged from the side, slashing through the boss.

There was a reason Klein and his guild survived without a single loss in Aincrad. They were _good_.

The heavy blow sent Kagachi flying, smashing the boss into the side of a building. A cloud of dust obscured my view for a second, but when it blew away I gritted my teeth. Kagachi had been actually smashed _into_ the building, rubble surrounding its body, and it broke free after a few seconds, chunks of the building falling from the crater it had created. The problem was, they'd done enough damage to trigger the automatic regeneration of its snake tattoo. Normally that only happened at the halfway point of the fight, so... I guess we're making good time, since the timer hasn't passed five minutes yet. Free from where it had been embedded, Kagachi let out a screeching hiss at Fuurinkazanazan before rushing forward at them.

As it ran, its arm snapped out and... What?! "Shit!" I yelped, jumping to the side and landing in a roll that left my side feeling a little roughed up. I just barely managed to dodge the boss's snake whip, which it decided to attack us with for... reasons?! Maybe the aggro reset after it went to phase two and it prioritized the distant players over the ones that had surrounded it for... reasons?! The snake whip gouged a hole in the concrete floor before crashing into the building behind me, Kirito, and Asuna, sending shards of stones spraying everywhere. Asuna landed next to me as I rose to a crouch, gripping my dagger, but Kirito was on the other side of the whip.

"AR sucks," I grumbled, rubbing at my side. The pain was tolerable and swiftly fading.

"Be careful," Asuna told me, sparing a glance.

Kagachi screeched again, dismissing its snake tattoo and took off running forward, ignoring Fuurinkazanazan and the other fighters. What are you all doing! Hit the stupid thing! "Watch out, he's comin' for you!" Klein shouted oh-so-helpfully.

Asuna and I hurried over to where Kirito was crouching. "Kirito!" Asuna began.

That was all she had time to say before Kirito launched himself forward, closing the distance between him and the boss rapidly. He was still slow, though. It made sense, this was AR, not VR. Still, his skills should roughly cross over. He's fought this thing before, too, so that means -

Kirito suddenly tripped on a raised piece of cobblestone, falling flat on his face and then rolling onto his back as he slid forward. He came to a stop right in front of the boss, and it just looked down at him.

...So that means he'll just eat shit immediately, got it. I smacked my forehead with my free hand, sighing under my breath.

Kagachi's sword glinted and Kirito barely managed to parry the heavy downward smash, knocking it to the side. With a yelp he scrambled to his feet and took off running. The boss growled and chased after him, and naturally Asuna and I moved to run alongside him.

"Holy crap it's hard to move," he gasped. I could see a little red spot under his bangs where he'd fallen.

"You're just a little out of shape, is all," Asuna said.

"I'm not outta shape!" he yelped as we rounded a corner, leading it down the main corridor. My head flicked left and right - Yuna was singing on the bridge to our left, and more players were to the right. My hesitation only lasted for a heartbeat before I bolted right, Kirito and Asuna following my lead.

I grimaced. "You're out of shape!" I snapped at him, before glancing up to see a glint of light. "Sinon!"

There was no verbal answer, but a bullet smashed into Kagachi out of nowhere, snapping one of the spikes off of its helmet. Grinning fiercely, I turned on my heel, sliding a little bit, before moving towards the now-staggered boss. A quick slash to the back of one leg and I hamstrung the boss, making it take a knee.

"Watch it! I've got the kill shot!"

I turned around and yelped in surprise, jumping backwards and just barely managing to clear the line of fire of the bazooka aimed at the boss. It was Tiger Man again.

He pulled the trigger and an orange projectile of energy streaked forward, aimed towards the boss's head. If it connected, it would count as a critical hit and probably kill it - if it connected. Unfortunately, Tiger Man was clearly underestimating the boss's speed; the projectile was quick, but the boss's recovery was faster. It managed to jerk its head out of the way, just enough to let the explosive streak by without colliding.

It kept going, heading straight for the bridge - and the figure standing on it. Yuna.

"Uh oh," Tiger Man muttered.

Suddenly, a black blur appeared from nowhere and slashed the projectile back, hitting it like this was a volleyball-esque minigame and Kagachi was some sort of pig-monster with a trident. The shot detonated against Kagachi's back, making the boss monster drop to its other knee and then fall flat on its face limply, back smoking. The player that had saved Yuna landed lightly in a runner's crouch, right hand holding a sword and left hand splayed on the ground.

...Wait, did he just jump from the top of the bridge and then land on the ground _without rolling to break momentum_? No. I refuse. That's not possible, something is wrong, that would have shattered his kneecaps. This is AR, not VR. He straightened up, and I scowled. I don't care that he has cool purple glowing lines on his coat, I don't care that the icon over his head _does_ label him as the second-place player on the leaderboard, that's _not physically possible_.

I took advantage of the brief lull in attacks to move up and stick my dagger in Kagachi's left eye a few times. Might as well get what damage I can while it's stunned. "Nice save," Tiger Man muttered.

"Rank Two?" Asuna asked, a little out of breath from our desperate run. Kirito was panting a little heavier than that, and my own breaths were roughly on par with Asuna. I was in better shape than she was, but I'd also been fighting for a little bit longer than she had.

Kagachi rumbled and I hurriedly backed off. As it pushed itself up, I stopped my retreat next to Kirito and Asuna, safe knowing they were at my side. The boss pushed itself up from the cloud of smoke and screeched, raising its left hand. A blue glow appeared in its hand and flashed, resolving into a katana that matched the one on its right. Final health bar, here we come. Now it was just attacking non-stop, replacing the snake whip with energy blasts from the sword attacks.

It's amazing how quickly I remember these things.

"It's using its killer move!" Rank Two shouted, running forward. My eyes widened as I watched him move at speeds he had no real business moving at unless he was secretly an Olympic champion or something. "Tanks, follow me!"

With a roar, Kagachi turned away from us and whirled to face the new threat. The blade in its left hand glowed bright white as it slashed vertically, sending out a rippling wave of energy. Rank Two shifted to the left, letting it pass by him just barely. But the wave was a two-hit combo, and Kagachi's right hand sword swung horizontally, sending out a beam of energy. The first one was dodgeable by shifting out of its path, but the horizontal slash needed to be jumped over or ducked under. In this case, since this was the real world, ducking would be easier -

\- but because he had already broken physics twice, Rank Two decided to go for the hat trick. He jumped... No, that's too simple a description for what he did. He vaulted over the second beam in a no-lead up cartwheel, landing on one hand and pushing off of that to complete the flip and not lose any speed. Because apparently this guy is just some sort of gymnast sprinter athletic gift from the gods.

Kagachi was stuck in its attack animation and Rank Two didn't hesitate to stab forward, ripping a gash in the boss's side that sprayed orange sparks. I could see him for a second before he kept moving - grey hair, or silver, something like that.

"Nice hit, man!" Klein cheered before waving his guild forward. "C'mon!"

"Yes!" Asuna laughed, before running to join the fight. "Wait for me!" Shaking my head, I glanced at Kirito; he was holding his right arm at the elbow, and as soon as he caught my look he grinned ruefully. Seriously...

With a shrug I ran forward to join Asuna. Kirito was out of the fight if he couldn't swing his sword, so...

Simultaneously Asuna and I landed heavy blows on the boss, ripping through the simulated flesh. Asuna's rapier slashed up and I slashed down, our two damage lines crossing in the middle of its chest and forcing it to slide back. Before Kagachi could retaliate, though, Klein struck its unprotected back and forced it to whirl on him. Harry One moved in front of me and Asuna to counter its next attacks, while Dynamm acted as the blocker for Klein.

Kagachi unleashed a flurry of blows on Dynamm, each one ringing hollowly on the shield he held on his left arm. I counted the strokes, and after the fifth one I shouted to Harry One, "On us!"

He nodded but didn't have time to say anything else. Kagachi whirled and slashed with its katana, sending a wave of energy that broke harmlessly on Harry One's shield. I still had to brace myself from the force of the blow, but I was uninjured. The expected second, horizontal slash broke as well, and I relaxed. I was remembering how this fight went, like it was a foggy memory getting clearer by the second. But we didn't have long, only fifty seconds left.

Kagachi turned back to Dynamm and Klein for another series of blows, but I'd seen that coming. I broke from cover to slash at its unprotected back leg, my dagger biting heavily into the boss. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to sever it completely before the boss whirled finished its next five-slash combo, and I had to keep moving. Since it had just done a close-range move I was safe to run _towards_ Klein; behind me, Kagachi unleashed a sword beam towards the left, at Kunimittz and Issin.

"Retreat! Move!" Klein shouted. Dynamm and I were right behind him, running for our lives.

I heard the expected one, two, three sword slashes before Kagachi let out another hiss, and I turned to know which way to dodge -

\- only to have a black and purple blur rush by me. Rank Two, breaking all kind of speed limits today... Kagachi hesitated as Rank Two closed rapidly, and the swordsman didn't miss the chance. He stabbed forward, piercing the boss's gut before ripping the blade out and slashing diagonally. His charge led him _through_ the boss's legs and behind it, where he unleashed a third heavy blow. The red lines looked like an upside-down capital A.

The damage was enough to stun Kagachi, and the samurai boss fell to its knees for the second time that day.

Behind the boss, I saw Asuna grin and run forward. "Alright!" she gasped out. Passing Rank Two, the watching players let out a cheer as she drew her rapier back and, using her left hand to guide the blade...

...plunged it into Kagachi's heart, the tip ripping through its breastplate and emerging from the front of its chest.

A blue light, almost like lightning, blasted from the wound, blinding me briefly. When my vision cleared from the sudden bright light, I watched Kagachi explode in a multi-colored spray of confetti and a bass rumble, before the confetti reversed course and rushed together like someone had hit rewind on the explosion. With a crackle of blue flame it popped, imploding in on itself.

I sheathed my dagger as everyone cheered, stepping forward to pat Asuna on the back. I ignored the list of promotional rewards I'd won; I could examine those later. "Congratulations on beating the boss!" Yuna cheered from where she was standing on the bridge. "I just boosted everyone's points!" The cheer from _that_ announcement was even louder than the one from earlier, mixed with the groans of everyone who had fallen in battle. "And, I have a special reward for the player that worked the hardest!"

Asuna sheathed her rapier, turning to look behind her as the warped cityscape faded away to show the real world again. Ordinal Scale hadn't de-activated, so everyone was still dressed in their battle outfits, but at least I could see the real world. Tapping Asuna on the shoulder, she looked over at me and grinned. The two of us tapped knuckles.

A figure landed behind us and we both turned to see Yuna approaching for some reason. I took a step to the side, not sure whether she was approaching me or Asuna, but she didn't even glance my way. She just confidently strode up to Asuna, raised up on her toes, and pressed a quick kiss to Asuna's cheek.

My eyes widened and I looked at Kirito in surprise. He was standing with Klein and Fuurinkazanazan, all of them staring in surprise as well. Hells, _everyone_ around us had recoiled in shock. "You were this battle's MVP," Yuna said cheerfully to Asuna. "Congratulations!" She gestured, and Asuna received a bonus ten thousand points. My sister didn't really react, though. I think Yuna's kiss short-circuited something in her brain.

"See you at the next battle!" Yuna said, waving cheerfully before disappearing in a purple stream of light, just the same way that she'd arrived.

Asuna pressed a hand to her cheek, blushing a little bit, before turning around and staring at the city streets. Kirito approached from the side. "Nice job, Asuna," he said. She didn't reply, and just kept staring. It seemed like she was trying to remember something. Kirito stopped by her side and cleared his throat. "So, that guy's number two... He's a powerful player, that's for sure," he said. Asuna nodded.

I glanced over my shoulder to see Sinon approaching us. "Good job out there," I said, raising my hand. She grinned and gave me a high-five.

"Not so bad yourself," she replied, standing next to me in easy camaraderie. "Wish I could say the same about Kirito's performance."

"I know, right?"

Kirito sighed. "I'm standing right here, you two..."

"Oh, we know," Sinon and I said simultaneously, before sharing a quick grin. Kirito just winced.

Now that everyone was here, we all migrated over to one of the nearby 'benches', though it was really just a metal railing protecting a small tree planted in in front of the shops. Still, it had a bar running in a circle that was perfectly placed for people to sit on, so if they didn't want us to sit on it, maybe they should have designed it differently. I took the chance to scroll through all the new discounts I had available, not that any of them really interested me. Still, I _could_ use a new pair of wireless headphones... "Think it's a good idea?" I asked Sinon absently, pointing at the half-off item.

"Go for it," she muttered.

"You didn't even look."

"Oh, fine," she sighed. She took a few seconds to look at the headphones, then gave me a studying look. "Yeah, they'll look good on you."

"Cool." Now that I had an opinion I trusted, i.e. not mine, I tapped the headphones and bought them. Hey, neat, two-day delivery. They'll get here... Sunday, then. Awesome. "Thanks, Sinon."

She smiled faintly. "No problem."

"Dude," Klein said to Dynamm, "my rank shot up from this one battle! Look!"

I glanced over my shoulder at the other side of the railing, where Klein and the Fuurinkazanazan members were leaning. "Man!" Dynamm said. "Those SAO bosses pay out!"

"If the other users find out, this game's gonna get crowded," Harry One said.

Movement beside me caught my eye, and I saw Asuna scrolling through the rankings list. Beside her, Kirito rubbed his head. "Ah..." Klein said smugly. "Looks like you barely went up in rank, Kiri-dog." I glanced over his head, and Kirito was ranked... 82382. Yikes.

"Like I care," Kirito muttered. He totally cares. "I'm leaving the AR ranks to you guys.

Klein chuckled and nudged him with an elbow. "Make sure you get the lady home safe," he said.

"Of course I will."

"Hey, Asuna," Klein said to Asuna, "if the kid here gets fresh with you, give me a call. I'll come save ya."

Asuna smiled. "You got it!"

Kirito frowned while the rest of us chuckled at him. The teasing didn't last too much longer; it was just past quarter after nine, and it was time for everyone to get home. Goodbyes were said and we all split up; Dale went one way and Klein and Dynamm went a second, while the rest of Fuurinkazanazan went another. We waved to them before the four of us - me, Kirito, Asuna, and Sinon - headed to where our bikes were parked.

"See you in ALO later," I said to Kirito and Asuna as Sinon hopped on the back of my bike. "Hope you're ready for Keiko to fangirl about Yuna." With the couple's chuckles, I waved goodbye and started up my bike to drive Sinon home.

* * *

 **So. Ordinal Scale. This is a thing that's happening!**

 **I actually really enjoyed watching this movie. Possibly because I'd been waiting for like… a year and a half to see it when it finally came out dubbed? Meh, whatever. It's fun! Plus I got to goof off with the first few chapters of this story, so that's fun. The title... I just chose it more or less at random, so any accidental references to anything (like Angel Beats or something, to pick a name out of a hat for no reason at all :3) are just that, accidents.**

 **Anyway, we're just gonna knock the crossdressing requirement out right now and get things rolling. Once per story, remember. Nick's exercise routine (with the Augma) is something I wish** _ **I**_ **had, if only so that I could keep up my technique. C'mon, all these shitty crossfit gadgets and we still can't come up with AR fighting. (crossfit is awful for your body unless you're doing it 100% perfectly (newsflash you're probably not), don't do crossfit just exercise and eat healthy like a normal person)**

 **And then we get to Kagachi after Nick, Kana, and Shino join up with the main crew. I got to have fun with the snark a little bit, since obviously nothing bad's gonna happen and this is just a light-hearted romp through Memory Lane.**

 **Something else I'm trying to work on is Nick's interactions with Shino being reminiscent of his interactions with Kana. If you're reading this after reading Nightblade IV, then you probably know why. Otherwise, don't worry about it, go read Nightblade IV after reading this story and then you'll know.**

 **Let's have some fun with this, okay?**


	2. Chorus

**Chorus**

* * *

I let Shino off at her apartment before driving home myself. I heard an ambulance's sirens and looked around, but fortunately it was on the other side of the road so I didn't have to do anything special. Probably just somebody getting a little too worked up about the fact that it was Friday. Once I was home, I made myself a big second dinner - there really should be a term for that. Dark dinner? - to refuel from the fight. My body was a little sore now, but I knew I'd heal with a good night's sleep. Probably have a few aches tomorrow, but hey, that's life.

After finishing that off, I pulled off the Augma and put on the AmuSphere and logged into ALO. When I opened my eyes again, I was in the house I shared with Argo, just a simple apartment in Yggdrasil City. I yawned and stretched, trying to get the satisfying _crack_ sound that came when my joints popped, but alas this was Alfheim and as such I couldn't really get it to crack. A few seconds later Din poked his head out of my jacket pocket and took flight. "You were great out there, Dad," he said with a grin as he landed on my shoulder.

I chuckled. "You're my kid, I think you're a little biased."

"Maybe, but from what he's shown me you did a good job."

My smile brightened as I turned to see Argo leaning against the doorframe, a grin on her whiskered face. "You were already on?"

She accepted my hug easily, nuzzling into my chest. "Not for long. I checked out some of Din's recording. Klein did a pretty good job, though Kirito was..."

"...Not great," I sighed. "Guy really needs to get in shape." Argo snickered before pulling away, and I gently cupped a hand around her cheek. My thumb brushed along her whiskers, and she leaned into the touch. "Sorry I couldn't take you."

"I understand," she said, "and I'm not mad. I wish I could have been there with you, but I'm glad you had fun."

We stood there, just basking in each other's company. I was about to open my mouth when Din spoke up. "Ah! Yui just let me know that Uncle Kirito got home and is gonna log on soon, so we should hurry to the log cabin." He blinked when both Argo and I chuckled. "What? Did I interrupt something? You two were just standing there, so..."

"He really is your kid, Ry," Argo snickered. I frowned at her. "Hey, hey, you know you agree with me."

"That's why I'm frowning," I sighed. "C'mon, let's get moving, I don't want to keep everyone waiting."

Argo's eyes brightened as we headed out onto the veranda and summoned our wings, launching into the air. "Ooh, tell me about what happened after Kirito fell on his face, I didn't get past that part."

"Well, after he got to his feet he ran towards us..."

...

"...and Yuna kissed Asuna on the cheek as a reward," I said as the two of us plus Din landed lightly in front of Asuna and Kirito's house. The house was already lit up, light spilling into the night from the windows. "You should have seen Kirito's face."

"I recorded it," Din announced proudly.

"Thatta boy," Argo and I said simultaneously before grinning at each other. We did that on occasion, and it never failed to get weird looks from Kirito or the girls. Whenever someone asked how we did that, I just shrugged. Argo, on the other hand, always said it was because we loved each other so much.

I mean, she's not _wrong_ , but I'm not certain that's the cause of our synchronicity. Maybe.

We walked up to the front door and let ourselves in before making our way to the living room. Argo and I were the last ones to arrive, which was kinda my fault. "Hey, guys," I said, waving. A chorus of voices came back in response; Leafa, Silica, and Liz were sitting on one couch, and Klein and Sinon were on opposite ends of the other, the center spot open. Agil stood with his arms folded beside Sinon, so the spot was open for me and Argo. Kirito was in his typical rocking chair at the head of the table, and Asuna was standing beside her. Everyone was wearing their casual clothing, me and Argo included. Comfortable gowns for the ladies, and simple tunics for me and Agil. Klein wore a yukata, fitting with his samurai image, and Kirito wore the simple black clothes that Asuna had made for him.

I sank down into the open spot between Sinon and Klein, and Argo happily hopped on my lap. It was a good thing her stat build was entirely designed around lowering weight as much as possible, or this might start to get uncomfortable. "Comfortable?" I asked her drily.

"Yep," she chirped, not at all apologetic. I just sighed and shook my head with a smile as the girls on the other couch giggled. The cake in the center of the table had been sliced up and Argo snagged a piece for herself. I declined - I don't like cake - but I did accept a cup of tea from our wonderful Undine hostess and take a sip.

Placing the cup on the table before wrapping my arms around my girlfriend's waist and holding her against me, I asked the group at large, "What were you talking about when Argo and I arrived?"

"How the boss moved the same as from SAO," Silica replied. One of her hands was stroking Pina, who was asleep on her lap.

Klein grinned. "Yeah, wish I could say the same. After all that runnin' around, my whole body's sore," he said, rolling his shoulder. I shifted to the side to give him a little more room, brushing against Sinon's bare shoulder for a second.

"Can't believe you guys took it down so quick," Agil said. His tunic and vest were brown and grey, as expected from the Gnome race.

"For one thing, Asuna, Rythin and I fought it before," Kirito said. "...Ehh, but still, it wasn't easy. You could tell the other players weren't used to working together as a team."

I rolled my eyes. " _You_ didn't do anything except fall on your face. The only teamwork here was me, Asuna, and Sinon with Klein and his guild."

Asuna giggled. "By the end of it, Kirito here was exhausted."

"That's only because I'm not used to fighting in AR," Kirito grumbled. Asuna tilted her head innocently. "Oh, and you'll never guess who showed up to cheer us on. You know that girl Yuna?" he asked Agil. "She gave us a -"

"HUH?!" Silica and Leafa exclaimed simultaneously. I flinched in surprise.

"Yuna was at the boss fight with you?!" Leafa asked, jumping to her feet.

Silica jumped up as well, carefully setting Pina down on the couch cushion. The poor dragon let out a cry of confusion. "For real?!"

The two of them ran around the table and started shaking Kirito, one on each shoulder. Their eyes were wide and their cheeks were a little flushed, and I think they might have been breathing heavily. "What's she like?" they both asked.

"Girl crush," Argo snickered. I felt her tail tip twitch in amusement and glanced down to see it tangled up in mine, the two twining around each other. One dark brown, the other closer to a warm honey.

I tapped her on the head, making her cat ears twitch. "Be nice, Argo. Even if they _do_ have the world's most obvious girl crush."

"Fine..."

"Well, it was pretty cool seein' her live," Klein said, folding his arms. "But like a dumbass, I forgot to put my name down for one of those tickets..." The samurai Salamander hung his head, sighing.

"Yeah, Argo snagged us a pair, but it was hard to get," I said. "They sold out almost immediately."

"Too bad you missed out, man," Agil rumbled. His large, muscular appearance was at odds with the gentle way he held the teacup in his hands. "When they were doing those Ordinal Scale signups, I scored myself a pair."

"Yeah, I got a pair too," Sinon offered absently.

A beat.

"You got two?!" Klein and Leafa exclaimed, both of them staring at Agil and Sinon respectively.

Klein immediately abandoned all pretense of honor or self-esteem and started tugging on Agil's arm, begging and whimpering pitifully. "Alright, alright," the Gnome said, "get off! Stop begging, I'll let you have one."

While Klein celebrated, Leafa was staring daggers at Sinon, murmuring _staaaaaaare_ under her breath. "Yes, Leafa, I'll give you a ticket," the blue-haired Cait Sith said with a smile. Leafa squealed in excitement.

"Yay!" "Thanks, man!" Leafa and Klein shouted respectively, giving their wonderful ticket donors a huge hug. Sinon took the hug a bit better than Agil did, but I think that might be because Klein was actually sobbing into Agil's chest.

Leafa's face dropped and the excitement melted away. "Aw..." she muttered. "I just remembered I have kendo boot camp next week..."

She grumbled in disappointment and Sinon patted the Sylph's shoulder sympathetically while the rest of us grinned. Meanwhile, Agil was still trying to get Klein to let go of him.

It took a little bit of time for everyone to calm down and get back to their seat, but Klein finally got pried off of Agil, and Silica and Leafa calmed down from the news that their newest idol had visited the battlefield. "Is anyone else as weirded out by this as I am?" Silica asked as she fed Pina a small peanut. The little dragon ate it and -

"Oh my god Pina _purrs_ ," I breathed in amazement. Argo glanced back at me, and then snickered. "That is adorable." I deny categorically that I squealed that last statement, no matter how much Sinon's ears flicked in my direction. The small smiles on both Cait Sith's faces were also lies.

"I mean," Silica continued, unaware of the massive revelation that just rocked the foundation of my entire worldview, "what's up with an old SAO boss showing up in an Ordinal Scale battle?"

"If it were a tie-in between games, wouldn't we have heard?" Liz asked us.

I hadn't heard anything, and neither had Din, despite my son's info-gathering abilities and my incessant checking for any updates related to Alfheim. "Mm-hmm," Asuna nodded. "But I don't think that's what's going on. Argus, the company that used to run SAO, was shut down a while ago."

"Kinda hard to stay afloat when your biggest game turns out to be a trap for ten thousand players," I noted drily.

"Well, what about the other players at the event?" Leafa asked. "Did they know the boss was from SAO too?"

Asuna hummed. "...No, I don't think so," she said, tapping her chin thoughtfully with a slender finger. "Nobody knew the boss patterns except for us, and maybe one or two others."

I leaned forward. "I can confirm that a lot of rookie mistakes were made," I said. "Anyone that had fought the boss before would have expected the snake whip, but it still wiped out almost everybody fighting from afar. They had no idea it was coming." Leafa mouthed the words 'snake whip' under her breath, blinking in surprise.

"Yeah," Kirito agreed. "Most of them never saw it before. Thing is, if old bosses from SAO keep showing up, it's only a matter of time before folks start catching on. And thing is, those fights are where all the points are."

I grinned. "Hey, we could look at it this way. Now _all_ of us are the beaters." I chuckled, even though Kirito and Asuna just sighed. Argo squirmed and swatted my ribs, frowning at me in good humor. "What's wrong, catling, disappointed your advantage is dwindling?"

"Bleh," she stuck her cute tongue out at me.

"Sounds like someone's trying to bring old Aincrad to the real world," Agil rumbled, arms folded. "Damn."

"So what?" Sinon asked airily. "The Augma's nothing like the NerveGear, so no one's gonna die. It's safe."

That's a good point. "Anyway," Kirito said, "Yui? See if anything's fishy."

"Okay, Daddy!" Yui pumped her fist. "Din, will you help me?" My son shrugged lethargically. "Thanks, I knew I could count on you." These two children are adorable and they tug at my heart every time they interact.

Silica raised her hand cheerfully. "Heck, if I can hang out with Yuna, I'll totally go to a battle!"

"Me too!" Leafa raised her hand to volunteer as well.

Pina let out a cry of agreement, wings flapping for a second. "And next time he'll give _me_ a ride on his bike," Silica muttered lowly. Beside me, Sinon's ears twitched as she glanced at the younger Cait Sith. Aw, what, my bike's a deathtrap but it's fine if you get to ride with your crush? I'm almost a little hurt.

"I wish these events would happen at better times," Liz said as Leafa and Silica lowered their hands. "And at places that are easier to get to."

"That's what us guys in Fuurinkaazan are for," Klein bragged, gesturing at himself with his thumb. "Any of you ladies need a ride, just pick up a phone and we'll pick _you_ up."

Liz grinned weakly. "Yeah, that's what worries us, Klein." Klein's face drooped, and Silica nodded in agreement. Beside me, Sinon let out a quiet giggle.

Argo snickered. "Better work on your pick-up lines, Klein. I don't think they're working on anything female with a pulse."

"He did get Skuld's number," I pointed out mildly.

"I said with a pulse."

"Eh, true."

"Wha... You all suck," Klein muttered as the others laughed. The light-hearted teasing wasn't anything new, and if he ever gave the sign it bothered him I knew we'd all stop immediately. "Ugh..." He hung his head - and as if to add insult to injury, Pina flew over and settled on his head with a cry.

The conversation topics drifted to different things over the course of the evening. It was just the general conversations, honestly. As we talked, I realized abruptly that Sinon hadn't stopped touching my shoulder and was actually gently resting against me. I didn't mind, but I wondered if she'd prefer to be resting against Kirito or something... Argo shifted in my lap and slid to the side, curling up on the couch against me. Cait Sith cuddle pile?

I glanced over my shoulder when I felt something twitch against my tail. A pale blue tail had joined the tangle, lightly resting on top of mine. Yeah, Cait Sith cuddle pile.

Eventually, people started logging off, citing school, exhaustion, or just something else that they needed to do. I actually squawked a little bit when Sinon disappeared, throwing off my center of balance; I hadn't heard her say she was leaving. Trying to maintain what was left of my dignity - not that I had much left, after going along with the girls' little dress-up schemes - I coughed once. "It's getting late, Asuna, Kirito," I said to them. "I think I'm gonna head out. Mind if I just..."

Asuna smiled. "Of course. We'll watch your body until it disappears."

"Thanks, you're the best." Swiping open my menu, I tapped the log-out button...

...and pulled the AmuSphere off of my head. Hmm, it's almost midnight... Yeah, I'm probably just going to go to sleep. I sent Kana a quick message saying good night; my phone chimed with the reply while I was going through my nightly routine like brushing my teeth. After reading over her reply - just a simple 'Night :3' - I made sure all of my electronics were charging before heading to bed. My cat jumped up and I spent a few minutes fawning over him until he curled up against me, his purring a comforting rumble at my side.

Ugh... Extra-hard exercise, combined with the boss fight in Ordinal Scale... Yeah, I'm gonna be sore tomorrow.

* * *

I grunted as I killed the bike's engine and slowly swung my left leg over the bike. Yep. Definitely sore.

As I approached the Kirigaya household, the front door opened abruptly and Sugu stepped out, dressed in her school uniform. A red coat and skirt, with a white shirt and blue neck ribbon. "Nick!" she said, smiling after closing the door. "Hi! Sorry I can't stay, the bus for the camp is leaving soon." She was carrying a large duffel bag on her shoulder.

I gestured at my bike, parked on the road by their house. "I can give you a ride, if you want," I offered, but Sugu shook her head. "Unless you want to run there."

"Yeah. Thanks for the offer, though." She dropped the bag by her side and gave me a quick hug. "I'll see you in a week, okay?"

"Later," I said, trying not to wince when her tight hug nudged at a few of the sore spots. "Have fun at camp, Sugu."

"I will!" With a cheery wave, Sugu started jogging, running down the path and to the right. I was tempted to follow her but shook my head.

She'd been kind enough to allow me to have access to the dojo for training purposes, even when she wasn't there. In exchange, then, I was going to see if I couldn't whip that brother of ours into shape. Or, a reasonable facsimile thereof. Rolling my shoulders, I pushed open the door and made my way inside, taking my shoes off by the door. A quick glance in the living room showed me that Kazuto wasn't watching TV on the couch, which meant that by process of elimination he was upstairs in his room, either on the computer or in FullDive.

I mean, I only checked one place, but that still counts as process of elimination.

Sure enough, when I poked my head into his room, I saw him sitting at his desk. A mug of coffee was sitting next to his keyboard, in perfect picking up and sipping absently position. His monitors were lit up, and he was staring intently at the screens; he was wearing his silver headphones, so he didn't hear me coming. "Toto Institute of Technology," I said absently, reading over his shoulder.

Kazuto jerked in surprise, nearly toppling from his chair. "Wha- Oh, it's you, Nick," he said, tapping the side of his headphones. "I didn't hear you come in. When did you get here?"

"A few minutes ago," I said. "Just in time to say goodbye to Sugu before she left. Looking up colleges? I thought you were interested in that one overseas... What was it, again?"

"WIT, in Cambridge," he said, wiggling his mouse. I realized he had another tab open, sitting on the visitor page.

"So what were you doing looking up Toto?"

He shrugged. "Just looking. Since everyone's into the Augma these days... Turns out the guy who invented it is a professor at the institute and is giving lectures on it."

I nodded. "Huh. Neat." Taking a seat on his bed, I kicked back and relaxed, studying Kazuto. He wasn't even dressed, really. I mean, he was wearing clothes - fortunately, since despite how close we are I don't think we're _that_ close - but they were sloppy, lay-around-the-house kind of clothes. Shorts and a baggy hoodie, kinda. "Gonna get dressed sometime today?"

"Now you sound like Sugu," he muttered.

"Girl knows what she's talking about. Better fashion sense than the two of _us_ put together," I shrugged. "Anyway, c'mon, you can do your research later. We're heading to the dojo."

He blinked, turning to look at me. "We? What are you talking about?"

I grinned. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe the way you were wheezing for breath after a minute of exercise yesterday. You haven't been keeping up with your fitness, have you?" The question was light and innocent, but we both knew I already knew the answer. "So as a favor to Sugu, for letting me use the dojo to practice, I'm gonna at least _try_ to get you to get some exercise."

Kazuto complained, but I just raised an eyebrow and stood up, tapping my heel on the floor. We both knew that I wasn't going to give up until I got him into the dojo, and eventually Kazuto sighed. "Alright, fine, you win..."

When we got down to the dojo, I placed a few bottles of water and towels off to the side. "Start stretching," I ordered Kazuto. "Then, after you're warmed up, go grab a shinai."

"Sure, sure," Kazuto said as he started to go through the motions. At least he remembered them - though I think I have Sugu and Asuna to thank for that, since the latter always insisted that we stretch before any physical exertion, even in Alfheim. I was almost worried I'd have to run him through _everything_. Meanwhile, I dropped and went through my usual warm-up exercises.

By the time I was finished, sweating a little from the exertion, Kazuto had finished stretching and was holding his shinai. I grinned, rolling my shoulders. "Alright, then," I said. "Your job is pretty simple. _Hit me_. Your targets are my head and torso, no back. Arms and legs don't count if I'm blocking."

Kazuto hesitated. "Wait, but you don't -"

"I spar with Sugu bare-handed all the time," I said easily. "You won't hit me. Besides, I need to work on mobility and blocking, so what better way?"

"If you say so," Kazuto said dubiously. I pulled on my Augma and set up a quick ten-minute timer, before starting up another of Yuna's songs to play along. I turned back to Kazuto with a grin, and gestured for him to start.

...

By the time the ten-minute alarm went off, I was frowning. "That was pathetic," I said bluntly. Kazuto had all but collapsed after a few minutes, and even before that his swings were slow, easy to predict, and worst of all, weak. "No wonder you can't fight the boss in Ordinal Scale."

Kazuto just mumbled something from where he was sitting against the wall. After a second, he gulped some water and tried again. "It's been a while since I've held a sword," he said.

I rolled my eyes. "It shows," I said. All things considered, his form wasn't _bad_. It was just that he needed to get back into shape, which probably wouldn't take too long. His body still remembered the moves. "Well, I've done what I can for today, you're exhausted and anything after this just won't help. Just... go eat something, okay?"

"Sure," Kazuto said, grinning at me weakly before making his way out of the dojo. Seriously, I was taking it easy and he still didn't get a hit... This wasn't enough of a workout, so I figure I'll just get some more exercise in.

I turned up the music and started up the first phase of Target Practice, immediately falling into the pleasant half-daze while fighting. The first few stages weren't all that challenging, so I didn't have to focus too hard. I honestly wish I didn't have to do my exercising early, since it tends to eat up daylight and leave me tired for an hour or two after I finish. Unfortunately, because Ordinal Scale's boss fights started right on the dot at nine, it fell squarely on the time frame I normally used to exercise. And, since I had free time thanks to graduating, I might as well put it to good use.

After fifteen more minutes of fighting practice, my muscles were finally burning too much for me to keep my hands up. I sighed in irritation; I could go all-out for about five minutes in a row, but after that I was just burned out entirely. I was trying my best to work on my stamina, but it was still slow going. Taking a gulp of water from the water bottle, I wiped off the sweat from the last fifteen minutes and headed inside. I went to see if Kazuto was still playing on the computer so I could say goodbye, but when I poked my head in the door he was lying on the bed, his AmuSphere over his eyes. Well, I _could_ disturb him, but I didn't really want to.

I went home and took a quick shower before getting dressed again, heading out on foot this time. The other reason I was getting my exercise in early was pretty simple; Kana and I were heading out again today, to just wander town.

When I reached the meeting spot, Kana was already waiting, idly inspecting her nails as she leaned against a nearby wall. I stopped a little bit away to just stop and appreciate my girlfriend; she was wearing the hoodie I'd purchased for her Christmas gift, and I realized without noticing that I'd started smiling at the sight. Like usual, she eschewed skirts or a dress in favor of simple jeans that looked really good on her - Kana always wore pants or shorts when dressed casually, claiming that they actually had pockets. The hoodie was unzipped to display her top, a simple brown blouse that showed off a little of her shoulders.

After a second of me totally not staring at her, I shook myself and pushed through the crowd. "Hey, catling," I said as I approached.

Kana looked over, tapping the Augma on the side of her head, and grinned. "Hey," she said with a grin. "About time you got here, I was getting tired of waiting."

"Sorry, sorry," I laughed. "I kinda lost track of time while I was training."

"How was the kid?" Kana asked, lacing her fingers with mine as we started walking. There wasn't any general plan, we were just wandering around town today to see if anything caught our interest.

I sighed, waving my free hand expressively. "I've seen him at worse, but that was when we all just woke up from a two-year coma."

Kana winced. "Yikes."

"Yeah, it... wasn't great." I sighed. Knowing Kazuto, he probably wouldn't take it seriously unless he had a pressing reason to get in shape, and there just wasn't anything I could see that would cause it. Maybe if Asuna asked? I'll have to give my sister a call later, see if she's willing to light a fire under Kazuto's ass.

Our conversation topics drifted idly, just the two of us talking to each other. The important part wasn't what we talked about, after all; it was who we were talking to. We'd both graduated, so these little walks around town had become a nice routine for us. We didn't go out every day - there was virtue to spending some time apart, of course - but more often than not we set two or three hours aside for three or four days a week to be together.

We stopped by that used bookstore that we stumbled on yesterday; Kana mentioned that she wanted to pick up something that she'd seen but didn't purchase. While I watched her browse through the shelves, running her fingers along the spines and occasionally pulling one out, I realized just how lucky I was, to have her. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Eh?" Kana glanced at me in surprise. "I'm what now?"

I blinked. "Did I say that out loud?" Kana nodded, cheeks a little red. "Oh, sorry. I was just watching you, and it kinda just came out."

For some reason, Kana blushed even harder, her entire face going red as she ducked her head. "...Thanks," she muttered. "I feel the same."

Why is she so embarrassed all of a sudden? I just said something normal.

After purchasing the book, Kana tucked it away in her purse and the two of us resumed our stroll through town. "Alfheim's getting kinda empty," my girlfriend said after glancing at her phone. "Din just let me know, the event got canceled just now because there weren't enough players online."

I sighed. "First delayed, and now canceled? Well... I hope the slump is temporary, I _like_ Alfheim."

What I didn't say was simple. Alfheim was where Kana and I were married, not just boyfriend and girlfriend. It was where we had a house, and a family with Din. The Augma might be able to display Din, but we couldn't hug him like we could in virtual reality. Alfheim - and its predecessor, Aincrad - was where I'd met Kana, where I'd met all of my family bar Shino, and even then I'd met Shino through virtual reality. Even if I had everyone in the real world, it felt like I would lose part of my life if Alfheim shut down. It was one of my _worlds._ We spent two years in Aincrad, after all, and we all played Alfheim together every day...

Well, I suppose we'll find out eventually what will happen. Meanwhile, I'm kinda just glad that I'm able to walk around in public today without Kana deciding it was time for me to crossdress again.

* * *

At 20:30, my phone chimed with an incoming message notification. Reaching over, I grabbed it and tapped the screen. A pair of messages, actually; one from Din, and one from Klein. Humming a tuneless song, I opened the message from Klein on top. 'Hey, Rythin! The boss raid is near Asuna's house. You coming? Here's the details.'

Well, now I'm pretty sure I know what the message from Din says. Pushing my chair back, I checked out the message Din sent me. Sure enough, he was letting me know that the location of Ordinal Scale's next boss fight had been released. Both of them had included location coordinates with the message, and I clicked on Din's, since it was already open on screen. The location popped up - oh hey, that really _is_ close to Asuna's house - along with the directions for how to walk, drive, or take a bus to get there, and the estimated times for each.

As soon as I saw the duration of driving, I grimaced. Setting my phone on my desk, I called Kana and turned on speakerphone while getting dressed. It rang a few times, before connecting with a click. "Hey, Nick," Kana said. "I got the message too."

"What're we gonna do?" I asked her, changing out of my sweatpants and into real jeans. "There's no way I can drive and pick you up in time, and it's too far away for you to get there if you walk." Unfortunately, Kana lived in almost the opposite direction; even if she walked towards me while I drove and I picked her up along the way before turning around, and even if I broke the speed limit there and back, there was no way we'd make it to the boss fight before 21:30 at the latest.

If Kana asked, I'd still _try_ , of course. I'd do anything she asked without question. But doing the math, it was all but literally pointless to try to get both of us to the fight.

Judging by the silence on Kana's end, she was doing the math in her head too. Eventually, I heard a sigh through the speakers. "Go ahead," she said. "I can tell you want to fight, and I'm not going to be the one to stop you from having some fun. Just be careful, okay?"

I guess I _was_ feeling a little antsy ever since the total letdown of a fight with Kazuto. I hadn't even realized it, but Kana did. Amazing. "If you're sure," I said slowly.

I heard her giggle. "Of course I'm sure, silly," Kana said, and I smiled even though she couldn't see it. "Tell me how the fight goes tomorrow?"

"Sure thing," I said. "Double date with Asuna and Kazuto, right?"

"It's been a while since we've been on one of those," my girlfriend said. "It should be fun."

I laughed, doing my routine pocket check to make sure I had everything. Wallet, keys, pho- I had a momentary heart attack when my hand didn't feel my phone in my pocket before I remembered that I was talking to Kana through the phone. "Okay, beautiful," I said. "If I want to make it in time, I gotta go. Love you."

"Love you too," Kana replied as I picked up the phone. Ending the call, I tucked it away safely in my pocket and grabbed my jacket.

The drive was quick enough, but I had the beginning of an idea that I focused on while driving. Turning it over in my head, I parked my bike and made a decision. "Hey, Din," I said, tapping the side of my Augma.

Din appeared in a brief flicker of light, landing lightly on my shoulder. "Yeah, Dad?"

"Sorry, did I drag you away from playing with Yui?" I smirked lightly at Din's tiny wail of complaint. They were cute together, I wouldn't mind~. "It's nothing major, but I wanted to see if you could look into any sort of pattern in the appearance of the SAO bosses. Maybe if you can find a pattern, we can predict where the next one will show up and get there ahead of time."

Din blinked and grinned. "So Mom can join in on the boss fights!" he said.

See, I knew he was my son. He got what I was going for almost immediately. "Yep," I said. "Thanks, kid." With a jaunty salute, Din lifted off and flew around my head a few times before disappearing. With a quiet chuckle I shook my head. That was one of his favorite tricks...

"Ah, Nick! You're coming too?" I smiled and turned to see Asuna approaching me at a quick jog, a purse slung over her shoulder. I adjusted my step to let her catch up, and then fell in line with her, abusing my longer legs to keep pace with her at a fast walk in my usual position.

I glanced her way. She was wearing something casual but still cute; her long hair brushed against my arm briefly as we walked side by side, and I realized it was damp for some reason. Weird. The two of us made our way to the entrance to Yoyogi Park, where I saw five men waiting - Klein and Fuurinkaazan. Klein turned around and waved as the two of us approached them. "Hey, Asuna, Rythin," he called out. "Right on time. Thanks for comin' out tonight," he said. "Hope that text didn't wake you up."

I shrugged. "I normally don't crash until midnight. This is like... dark dinner time, normally." Everyone blinked at me, and I stared back, stone-faced. Okay, note to self: dark dinner is a no-go. Maybe something else, combining dinner and lunch? Since it's kinda like a second meal... Dinner's lunch? A little too long, I think.

Asuna giggled. "Oh no, I wasn't in bed yet. You caught me taking a bath."

She said that so casually, and yet every single one of the guys in front of me blushed, letting out a little sigh as they shifted. Uh huh. Yeah. I know exactly what _they're_ thinking about. I cleared my throat as Asuna laughed uneasily, stepping back. "You're missing someone," I said to them. I think his name... Uh, he was the two-handed guy.

"Oh yeah," Klein said. "We sent him a message, but he hasn't called back yet. How about you two go on ahead, and we'll jump in once he gets here?"

"Okay," Asuna said, before folding her arms behind her back impishly. "But you better hurry," she teased the men. "Otherwise, Nick and I are gonna scoop up all your points for ourselves. Isn't that right?"

I just grinned smugly at Klein and Fuurinkaazan, baring my teeth a little bit. So I get competitive about rank, so sue me. It's not like I'm trying to be number one or anything. "H-Hey," Klein protested. "Let's not get greedy."

The rest of his guild laughed while Asuna giggled sweetly. "See you in there," she said with a wave. I nodded politely to them and followed her inside, keeping close to my sister.

"Okay..." Klein said as we left. Maybe he was worried we'd actually steal all the points, like Asuna suggested.

Well, he'd better get in here fast, or I _will_.

...

"Ordinal Scale, activate."

Clad in our Ordinal Scale outfits, Asuna and I walked up into the clearing. Players had already arrived, gathering in small groups to talk amongst each other. I saw a few people standing alone, but by and large the boss fights in this game required some small amount of coordination, so even us unsociable nerds were making an effort to put ourselves out there. ...Though it probably helped that Ordinal Scale was an AR game and thus even the non-nerd population was playing. Kinda like a phone game in that aspect, I guess.

The stylized statue that held an old-fashioned analog clock was sitting in the center of the park, and I looked up at it. The minute hand clicked to pointing straight at the 12, and the world underwent a transformation again.

Time to rock and roll. Let's be about it.

As the ripple of alternate reality washed over us, Asuna raised her fist, and I knocked mine against it. The battlefield this time was different from the one earlier, even knowing that alternate reality was based on the real world. It was like we'd been transported to a complete separate world from the one we'd fought in yesterday. This one was more like the ruins of a great Victorian-era city; stone pillars that had crumbled, a fence that was shattered and bent, and rubble on the ground. The clock statue had been replaced with a shattered statue of... _something_ that didn't look quite human.

With a crackle of lighting a red circle appeared on the nearby bridge, and we all turned to face it. A creature emerged from the circle; a large, four-legged beast with two large wings. My eyes narrowed as I took in the wicked-looking beak on the eagle-like head and the matching claws. I recognized _this_ one, too. The Storm Gryphon, boss of Floor 11. "It wasn't a fluke, huh..." Asuna murmured.

"Doesn't look that way," I said. "Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence." And I don't believe in coincidences.

Another of the drones flew off to the side, hovering over a crumbled building that coincidentally had a segment free and clear of any stone fragments. "Is everyone ready?" The excited voice echoed out as purple light streamed down, Yuna appearing in a crouch. She smiled at the crowd of players to their adoring cries of happiness. Her little flying helper friend sprinkled more pixie dust on us, giving us a buff to - ooh, defense up, nice. That'll help, actually. "It's time to battle, so... start the music!"

Ten minutes. As the music started, the timer hovering in the air started counting down, and the boss moved. It screeched, spreading open its wings and flapping then once. The strong winds buffeted us as it swooped off of the bridge and charged the players that were rushing to fight it.

They let out a roar as the boss dipped low, swinging their weapons in the air. The idiots, of course, had no idea that was one of the biggest mistakes to make while fighting this boss. See, the wings of the boss were considered one of its major weapons - even if the feathers themselves were soft and vulnerable, the bony edge was as hard as steel. With a screech, The Storm Gryphon smashed through players, knocking the back and outright killing a few of the unluckier ones.

I stepped to the side, just enough to let it pass by me. My arm twitched, but I didn't strike _just_ yet. I wanted to take the time to remember the boss's movement before I got its attention. I miss Future Step - I had to guess how close to stand, instead of just knowing. This sucks.

Asuna stepped back, feet dancing across the smooth stone ground, and I grinned at her. The Lightning Flash is here and ready to fight, I see. Asuna grinned back fiercely before adjusting the tilt of her rapier. "Three swoops," I said. The memories were starting to come back. "Then it lands briefly for a little bit. Rinse and repeat."

There was something else, but I couldn't remember right away. It'd been four years since we fought it, after all, and there had been sixty-five other bosses along the way. Either way, I put the matter on the backburner and clenched my fist around my dagger.

For the remainder of the first set of attacks, I kept my distance, watching the boss. It felt like seeing something that I only barely remembered, like I was groping in the dark for a light switch that I knew was there. The movements felt familiar, and little by little the memories felt more natural, my mind chaining them together. After the gryphon ran around on the ground, I gripped my dagger and spun it, grinning fiercely. "Ready to fight," I said. Beside me, Asuna nodded and shifted her rapier, the metal clinking. The Storm Gryphon swooped again, and Asuna and I moved in.

The second swoop was a little bit more expected than the first round. As it wheeled in the sky for its second pass, a few players remembered to dodge out of the way of its wings. Unfortunately, they made the mistake of running towards it. I guess they were aiming for its soft underbelly or something? Which wasn't a bad idea in a vacuum. The only problem with that...

The boss's talons flashed as it descended on top of the fighters, cleaving huge slashes through their chest and back. As they reeled, the Storm Gryphon crashed lower than before, startling me and Asuna. She lunged out of the way, sliding to a halt safely. My heart pounded and it felt like time slowed down as the boss rushed towards me. Too close to dodge to the side...

I gritted my teeth and hit the ground, falling backwards carefully. As my back struck the stone I thrust my arm up, dagger stabbing into the boss's chest, before ripping it to the side.

It screeched and flapped its massive wings, blasting me with wind, before pulling out of the dive and flying higher again. Grr... I rolled my right shoulder, the one I'd landed most heavily on, as I pushed myself to my feet. "This sucks," I grunted. "I miss Acrobatics." Used to be, I could just jump over the stupid boss and avoid _all_ of its danger areas. At least its claw attack had a period of time before it could strike again, which was the only reason I risked going directly under it. Rrr, I miss Future Step even more!

...Hey, looks like the moves are coming back to me without even recognizing it. I'd just _known_ it was safe to rush under it then. Neat.

Moving over to Asuna, I grinned at her. "I see it's coming back," she said. "Do you remember anything else?"

"Uh, there's one more thing, I think..." It was still hazy, but I knew there was something else. And it was bad, too... "Warn me when it's coming around again, okay?" After Asuna nodded, I closed my eyes and focused, fingers twitching.

Flicking through the memories of the eleventh Floor was harder than I expected. It'd been four years, and even though I had a good memory, pulling these things up under pressure was a bit... "Rythin, it's coming," Asuna said, resting a hand on my upper arm. I opened my eyes and nodded, refocusing on the fight. "Did you..."

"I think - shit shit shit move!" I yelped, grabbing Asuna's hand and spinning with her. The momentum twisted her out of the way just in time as The Storm Gryphon whipped by. Asuna was uninjured, but the trailing wingtip snagged my cheek. The impact wasn't much but it still drained a quarter of my health away, stinging like mad. Beast, I am going to _kill_ you for that!

This time, the boss didn't immediately pull out of its dive. Instead, it flapped its wings a few times to brake in midair and settled down on the ground. Letting out a screech, its scaled tail lashed and its red eyes gleamed. "Stance two," I murmured, already moving in. Asuna was right beside me, carrying her rapier and laughing cheerfully. Our blades carved lines through The Storm Gryphon's sides, scoring the beast in red. I took particularly cruel pleasure from a nasty slash downwards that severed one of the gryphon's hind talons.

"Get clear!" someone shouted, and I jumped back out of habit. As soon as all of the melee fighters were out of range of the boss, gunfire erupted and pelted the boss with bullets. None of them had the sheer knockback power of Sinon's awesome sniper rifle, but with eleven or twelve fighters laying into it, even the weak concentrated fire of the machineguns riddled the boss with bullet holes. Screeching, The Storm Gryphon rushed towards them, claws - minus the talon I chopped off - gouging into the stone.

I glanced over to the side when I realized that the background music had ended. Yuna's song was finished? ...And there were players just standing there listening to her. Help us fight you morons! They weren't even dead, they just ignored the fight entirely to listen to Yuna's singing.

Bluh. I let out a quiet huff and checked the remaining time. Out of the ten minutes, we'd already been fighting... for six? Huh. Felt like longer.

The hail of bullets continued as The Storm Gryphon rushed around, large bounding leaps crossing huge chunks of ground with every movement. After a few seconds had passed - the attackers keeping a careful distance from the gryphon, naturally - the boss's pattern shifted again and its last leap carried it up in a glide, to the top of a nearby pillar. It let out a clicking, moaning sound of some sort - _birds_. Why do they have to sound so _weird_ \- and a yellow spark snapped from the boss's neck to its wing, currents of blue electricity wrapping around the boss's body.

Immediately I flinched, memories rushing back to me. "Lightning attack," I rattled off to Asuna. "Midair, large AoE. Can't dodge, have to cancel." The immediate danger with lightning AoE attacks, especially ones with a field-wide effect like The Storm Gryphon's attack, was that the lightning crossed the entire distance immediately. In other words, even if I _had_ Future Step, if any part of me was touching the red zone, I'd be hit the instant the boss unleashed the attack. "Wings are flared and vulnerable during the preparation."

"Right!" Asuna said with a sharp nod. The Lightning Flash had taken charge again, and I could hear it in her voice and the way her eyes flashed. She took off running, approaching different groups. A few players with shields she ordered to draw the boss's aggro with a commanding shout. Before they even agreed, she was off again, running to the next group.

The gunfire chattered and made the boss leap from the pillar it was standing on, only to be chased away by another brief burst the second it landed again. Aiming up, a poor angle meant that they could only irritate the boss, not deal any decisive blows. "Its killer move is coming!" Asuna shouted. "When you see it hover, aim for the wings!" Again she was off, leaving mumbles of confused agreement behind her. I kept one eye on the boss and one eye on her, shadowing my sister from a safe distance just to help her in case she needed me.

Naturally, she didn't. "Everyone moves in once it hits the ground!" Asuna said to the group of melee fighters waiting on standby. They agreed as Asuna turned and jogged away.

She stopped near me, and I smirked. "I'd complain about leaving me out of your little plan, but -"

"But you already know where you need to be," Asuna completed my sentence for me, giving me a dazzling smile. I grinned back and spun my dagger, slicing to the side as if I was flicking blood from the blade.

Right by her side, naturally. In this fight, I wouldn't be anywhere else.

Letting out a gravelly screech, The Storm Gryphon gave up on hopping from pillar to pillar and started swooping in the air. Here we go... The tanks Asuna had rallied grouped together, their weapons glowing with blue effects as they shouted and banged. Braking in midair, the boss shrieked in rage, the blue lightning effects wrapping around the boss's body.

Its massive wings flapped down, sending the lightning crashing to the ground. Naturally, the lightning bolts struck the ground instantly - but what made this particular attack difficult to dodge was that the lightning bolts started moving erratically on the ground. They rushed out, smashing through the stone floor and slamming into the defender's wall of shields. Fortunately, none of them broke.

"Fire!" Asuna barked. The line of gunners she was standing with opened fire immediately, not even hesitating an instant at Asuna's youth. Granted, that might be because she was the only one to take command and people are always willing to follow orders if they're shouted loud enough, but still.

The hail of bullets ripped through the boss's wings, leaving gaping holes in the vulnerable feathers. The Storm Gryphon lost control and spiraled down, crashing to the ground _hard_. "Go!" Asuna snapped, and her attackers roared as they rushed in. The three men charged the grounded boss and slashed as one, just as the smoke cleared. The power behind their blows blew the rest of the dust away to reveal the boss rearing in pain, its left wing limply folded. Their blows must have done enough to trigger the Break status effect on that wing.

I smirked as the gryphon fell back. Perfect. Now it can't escape.

Before the rest of the melee fighters could pile on, though, The Storm Gryphon thrashed on the ground, forcing them to keep back. With deep guttural sounds of panic it bolted, the left wing dragging along the ground. I tensed, recognizing this pattern. It was almost dead -

\- One, two, three, the boss smashed defenders aside like they were nothing. It'd gone berserk, ramming its head and remaining good wing through any player in its path. The beast tried to break left, aiming for the clump of players with guns -

"No you don't."

\- but I got there first. With a precise thrust I ducked under the wing and slammed my dagger's edge against the wing. With a crash, sparks flew, and the impact felt like it was going to tear my arm from its socket, but I didn't mind. I just carried the slash through, forcing my knife to break the wing. As it crumpled, one other thing had changed.

Its direction.

My goal had been met perfectly. Because the gryphon was moving forward so quickly, introducing a pivot point would force it to curve right, straight towards Asuna. I knelt and looked over my shoulder, as Asuna rammed her rapier point-first down the boss's throat, completely ignoring the danger she put herself in. The beast's charge carried it straight down her blade, doing the damage to itself as Asuna executed a picture-perfect thrust. The blade passed through its body and emerged out the other side.

The Storm Gryphon froze, mid-stride, and exploded in a spray of brilliant rainbow lights. Then, like Kagachi before it, the burst reversed itself and imploded with a bass rumble before letting out one final spray of confetti.

The victory fanfare sounded as the players celebrated and cheered. Asuna sheathed her rapier with a flourish before coming to my side and offering me her hand. "Is your arm okay?" she asked, staring me down.

Naturally, I chuckled. She's far too used to me playing off injuries, huh? "I'm fine, I'm fine," I said, rolling my shoulder. "There's no _real_ damage done, even if I'd have probably dislocated my shoulder if this was an actual fight."

Her eyes studied my shoulder again, and I just grinned. Eventually, she sighed, giving me another smile. "You're far too reckless," she scolded me. "I'm not going to be the one to explain to Argo why her boyfriend got hurt."

The augmented world faded away like before, turning back into the Yoyogi Park we'd been fighting in the whole time. Someone approached the two of us - an older man, wearing glasses. I didn't recognize him. He tapped Asuna on the shoulder and said, "Yo, you were amazing out there."

"Nice strategy!" some doofus with spiked hair said.

"Yeah, you were awesome. You play any other games?"

There were eight people total, all guys. Naturally. A few of them were sizing me up, trying to figure out if I was Asuna's boyfriend or something. I stared at them all levelly. They broke the gaze first.

Still got it.

"Huh?" Asuna asked awkwardly. "Oh, uh..." She rubbed the back of her head with a nervous giggle. "The strategy came from -"

"Hello again!" The cheerful voice came from above as the silver-haired girl who'd been acting as our background music descended. Yuna landed lightly in front of Asuna. "Congratulations!"

Instantly, Asuna gasped in shock and all but disappeared, dashing behind me. I glanced over my shoulder, but didn't try to move; she was clutching my shirt and using me as a human shield. "Seriously?" I asked her as she poked her head out over my shoulder, watching Yuna.

"Aww," Yuna pouted. There was a similar, quieter murmur of disappointment from the men nearby, though they all shut up when my eyes narrowed. With a chime, ten-thousand points were added to Asuna's score. Guess the kiss was just a bonus, then. "Oh well," she said with a wave. "See ya later... Asuna."

"Someone's popular," I said to Asuna drily, even while my eyes tracked Yuna's figure as she disappeared into the violet light a drone emitted.

"Oh, shut up," she muttered, letting go of me now that her new friend had disappeared. The men that had been chatting with her earlier started to approach again, and I stepped back to get out of the way, though I still hovered somewhat menacingly over her shoulder. My deadpan, flat-eyed stare made a few of them think twice before saying anything funny - not that Asuna needed my help. I knew she was devoted to Kazuto, and that she'd never think of abandoning him like that.

Still, it never hurts to have backup.

On the way out, I mentioned, "I can give you a ride, if you'd like."

Asuna shook her head. We were both back in regular clothes, having removed our Augmas once the fight was done. "No, it's fine, I can make it home on my own."

"If you're sure," I said. We exited the gates and turned right, heading to where I'd parked my bike. "Ah. Klein must have headed home. Guess their friend didn't show after all."

"Yeah..."

I glanced at Asuna, surprised to see her staring thoughtfully at the empty park. "Something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing," she said with a smile, turning to look at me. Her words were almost drowned out by the approaching wail of a siren, and we both turned to watch the ambulance drive by.

Shaking my head, I poked Asuna's cheek. "Anyway, you should get going before the last bus leaves," I said. "Text me when you get home?"

Asuna giggled. "You're worse than Kirito."

"I try," I said, puffing my chest up with fake pride. Asuna laughed one more time before waving goodbye, heading off past my bike on her way home. I grinned at her retreating back before idly running my fingers along the metal fence beside me. I worry. I always worry, even if I know she and the others can take care of themselves. There's just this nagging feeling of 'what if they need me and I'm not there?'

Still, I had contingencies in place for almost everything I could think of. Forewarned is forearmed, and I was going to make sure I had as many arms as possible.

Glancing back at the empty park, I hesitated. "Wait..." I focused, squinting at the pavement through the slats. I hate having terrible night vision... "Is that..." There was something lying in the middle of the empty park. It was limp and boneless, but in the dark I couldn't tell if it was trash or something else. "Oh, fucking _hell_ ," I sighed under my breath, turning and jogging for the entrance. It might be an injured animal or something.

And, since this was the real world, I couldn't just effortlessly jump over the fence. This sucks. Going out of my way for...

"...A headband," I muttered flatly. "Fuck my eyesight." The shape I'd seen was just a discarded headband lying in the park. Someone had lost it, probably in the chaotic fight against the boss. Crouching down over it, I fully intended to just leave it there and tough for the - "Oh hey, this is Klein's," I said out loud. I'd _never_ seen him not wearing the thing. He must have lost it.

I grabbed the bandana and headed over to my bike. After stashing it safely in my jacket pocket, I put on my helmet and headed for home, glad I was moving in the opposite direction of the sirens. I'll deal with all this in the morning.

* * *

 **Just another day in the life of Nick. Dealing with Argo, dealing with Kirito, dealing with fights.**

 **I'll be honest – the scenes in ALO were an excuse for me to play around with the characters a beat. Argo claims Rythin's lap as her seat, Sinon and Rythin have little to no sense of personal distance… Pina** _ **purrs**_ **(and that was my reaction in real life, too) and everyone's favorite pastime is dunking on Klein.**

 **Then comes the afternoon. Nick is trying his best to get Kazuto to get in shape, but the idiot boy's having none of that. Still, it's a good start…? Kinda. Nick and Kana go on another date – by themselves this time, without Shino there because it's still a school day for her.**

 **Finally, The Storm Gryphon fight. I was tempted to have Nick arrive late and see everything that goes down there, helping out where he can, but in the end I decided against it. I have other plans… Nick's still a good fighter in AR – probably the second best of the group, behind Sugu – and that means he's** _ **really really good**_ **in Ordinal Scale. The only reasons he's not higher ranked are laziness and a late start.**

 **(Also he's very protective of Asuna and his family.)**

 **Many thanks to everyone that favorited, followed, or reviewed.**


	3. Second Verse

**Second Verse**

* * *

After getting home, I tossed Klein's bandana on my desk. I'd probably see him tomorrow afternoon or something in ALO, so I could tell him about it then. In the meantime, I woke my computer up from sleep and sank into my chair as the MMO Stream loaded on my second monitor. I didn't really care all that much about what they had to say, but it was habit to watch them at this point. Plus, it was background noise I could listen to while reading or checking updates on forums.

My stomach chose to remind me that I'd just spent ten minutes fighting, and that it'd super appreciate being rewarded for its efforts. Grumbling under my breath, I got out of the comfortable chair and headed downstairs to heat something up from the fridge. I couldn't be _too_ loud, I didn't want to wake up my parent, but at the same time my hunger could not be denied. It didn't help that my muscles were finally starting to stiffen up from the rigorous exercise I'd been putting them through yesterday and today.

As I headed back upstairs, I heard two familiar voices chatting happily. "Ugh, I'm missing it," I complained under my breath, carrying the plate of food with me. And, sure enough, the instant I sat down at my desk, MMO Stream went on break for a few minutes. My timing is _perfect_ , as it always is. I didn't actually want to watch it anyway, that's okay.

I scarfed down my food - just a quick sandwich and a cookie for dessert, but it did the trick. Setting the plate aside, I started idly surfing through my notifications, checking out the posts Din had flagged as interesting. It was too late to get on ALO, and I didn't want to disturb my parent by talking at night, so I made a mental note to thank him tomorrow.

The chime of MMO Stream returning from break caught my attention and I glanced over just in time to see the two hostesses of the stream come back. ...I should probably figure out what those two are called, huh? The blonde catgirl and the blue-haired catgirl, both of them dressed like pop idols. Eh, Blonde and Blue works for now. I listened to them absently as I clicked on my main screen, opening up a few new tabs.

"Here's the latest on Ordinal Scale!" Blonde said cheerfully. "The AR game everyone's talking about! Players are telling us some of the bosses from SAO's old Aincrad have been showing up in OS's event battles."

"The word on the forums is," Blue said, "a player can rack up a boatload of points at those rates. And not only that, there's a good chance you'll catch Yuna singing at one of them!"

Her voice sounds familiar, but I can't quite place it. Idly, I wrote out a reply to some idiot on the forum, before thinking better of the reaction and erasing it. It's better not to reply to them, even if insulting stupidity would feel really good.

"Kyaha!" Blue giggled. "Leveling up _and_ hearing Yuna sing would be the awesomest!"

"Easy now," Blonde said. "As we all know, Sword Art Online was shut down for good. But I bet you _didn't_ know that there's been a ton of new interest in it! Thanks to a book that came out last month called, 'The Complete SAO Incident Report'."

I glanced at the other screen. Oh hey, Kana and I helped give statements for that. Neat. "Huh," Blue said. "Hm. Talk about jumping on the bandwagon late."

"I wonder if the book's popularity, along with the recent spike in Augma users, are the reasons for the huge drop in log-ins to the two big VR games, ALO and GGO."

"Do you think people are getting bored with VR?" Blue asked.

"I have no idea," Blonde replied. "So let's ask some familiar faces who might be able to shed some light on what's going on in the VR world. Take it away!"

I realized with a small start that I'd just been watching the stream. Whoops. Well, these segments, where they have a camera inside the different VR games, are always interesting. I'll watch until the next break and then go to sleep - I don't want to be late for my date with Kana tomorrow.

The first player interviewed was one I recognized. "In the next ALO tourney I wanna fight someone who'll have me shaking in my boots," Eugene said, folding his arms. "Less players means less challenge for me. Well, they might as well give me the trophy now."

"Nya well..." The camera panned over, revealing the off-screen speaker. Alicia Rue, the Cait Sith Leader, flanked by three of her Cait Sith bodyguards. "You didn't win last time, did ya?" Eugene bristled at the small girl's teasing grin. She reminds me way too much of Argo...

"This world holds a special place in our hearts, and there's no way we're going to abandon it." Oh hey, Siune! The Sleeping Knights guild member was sitting at an inn table with Jun, the young Salamander nodding seriously.

The next interviewee was Sakuya, Leafa's clan leader. "Yes, it's true," the elegant Sylph said, lacing her fingers in front of her. "There _are_ less players in Sylph territory now. We can't hold major events like we used to, which is a shame. But if you want to know the truth, I'm not worried. I'm sure everyone will be back someday."

Then the screen cut to - "It's all a cycle," Argo said, Din sitting lightly on her shoulder. Catling, what are you doing. "I'm hoping logins pick back up, since it's more fun when there's a lot of players. But people'll still buy information from me, so it's not like I care all that much." I did get a good chuckle out of her title 'Info Broker, Argo the Rat', though.

The game shifted abruptly away from ALO and into GGO. "Why'd you desert me, Fukaziroh?" the cowboy-like man wailed, grabbing the camera with both hands as he shoved his face close. "I got a new grenade launcher for you and everything! You know how hard it is to get one of these?!"

"Where are you, Leafa?!" Recon cried as he shoved the cowboy slightly out of the way. I swear, that Sylph kid still has a crush on Sugu? Yikes. Well, not like she can answer him, she's out at the kendo training camp for a week. And, I'm pretty sure they don't have computers there.

The two of them shouted, shoving each other around on screen -

\- before it cut to a blank white screen, text apologizing 'for the unseemly images.'

"Sorry about that," Blonde said as it cut back to the main booth. "And now, please welcome our surprise guest! Enjoy!"

"How's everyone doing tonight?" Yuna chirped as she stood up into the camera's view. One of her songs played in the background as she waved to the people watching her.

I closed the MMO Stream tab. I... don't particularly care. Plus, she's probably just going to be shilling for her concert next week, getting people excited to see it. However, the music had already gotten into my mind, and I caught myself humming it as I prepared for bed.

...Gods damn it, now I have to listen to a few of her songs before I shut down my computer.

...

The next day, I woke up and didn't immediately regret it, which was something of a surprise. Sure, my body ached, especially from the boss fight against The Storm Gryphon yesterday, but a warm shower and a few stretches worked the worst of the pain away. I almost felt normal, for once. It was a surprisingly novel feeling - one that I swiftly ruined by pushing my body in a morning exercise routine. I wasn't _technically_ certain that we'd be fighting another boss tonight, but... hey, the pattern seemed to line up. Besides, I was having fun at the fights.

After a shower and a quick fashion-consulting session with Kana, I was dressed up and ready to go on a date with my girlfriend. "Do you think we've been going out too much?" I asked her idly, shrugging the grey shirt over my head. Short-sleeved, naturally; I'd wear a light hoodie over it, in case it was colder than expected.

Kana snickered. "Can that exist? Are you tired of seeing my beautiful face?"

I just sighed good-naturedly. "Yeah, okay, stupid question, stupid answer."

"Hey, my answer wasn't stupid!"

"I'll see you in a little," I said. "You're with Asuna right now?"

"Yep," Kana said. "Probably only another half hour before the princess is satisfied with how she looks." I heard a complaint in the background and grinned at Asuna's indignance. "Yeah, yeah, I keep telling you, you're going to blow him away no matter _what_ you're wearing," she replied to the unheard complaint.

I chuckled. "Alright. See you then."

After Kana said goodbye, I tucked my phone in my pocket and headed out. It was going to be a wander around type of date, so I didn't bother with the bike this time, deciding to catch the bus. This was only marginally a mistake, since I had to deal with irritating bus passengers instead of slightly less irritating commuters on the road. Still, with the aid of the Augma, I was able to mostly block out their existence with AR replacing what I saw and heard until the bus arrived at my stop.

Conveniently enough, we were meeting at Yoyogi Park. It felt a little strange seeing the place in the daylight, considering the last time I was here I was trying to fight a gryphon doing its best to kill me. Almost surreal, like I was on the outside of Wonderland, looking through the mirror.

Eh, whatever, who cares. I see Kazuto up on the bridge, right where The Storm Gryphon had spawned. He was dressed in regular clothes; a light shirt and pants, with his bag slung across his back. And, judging by the baton he was flailing around in a parody of sword slashes, he's doing something in Ordinal Scale. "Ordinal Scale, activate," I said casually, without pulling out my own baton.

Because I wasn't holding anything, I spawned in Ordinal Scale with just my bare knuckles, protected by the bracers. It wasn't my main weapon, but I could deal some damage with my fists just fine. With a glimmer of light Din appeared from thin air, landing lightly on my shoulder. "Dad, Yui just sent me a ping. Uncle Kirito is practicing in Ordinal Scale right now, and she wanted to know if you could help out. She's worried that if he doesn't get enough exercise, Aunt Asuna might get upset, and their marriage would be in trouble."

"Sure," I said with a grin that definitely wasn't predatory in the slightest. "I wonder how well he'll deal with a rush."

Suiting action to words, I moved in quickly, clenching my fists as I took the steps two at a time to reach Kirito's level. Yui saw me step up next to them and waved, and Kirito started to turn around to see what she was waving at.

I didn't give him the luxury of taking his time. "Hey Kirito!" I shouted as I dashed forward, fists drawing back. "Think fast!" While I did rush him, I did call out to give him the chance to block before I punched out - and, I deliberately pulled my punch a little bit, just so I didn't hurt him if he didn't get his sword up in time.

My knuckles collided with the flat of his sword, sparks flying. He'd just barely managed to block my blow. "Rythin?!" he gasped. I just grinned, taking a step forward with my back leg to test his strength. We struggled for a few seconds before he twisted, freeing himself from the clash with a few awkward steps backward.

Unfortunately, his situational awareness was lacking a bit, and his back crashed against the railing of the bridge. I grinned lightly, moving in close to threaten him. A punch rushed out, aimed for his stomach -

\- and I stopped the punch after a second, careful not to hit him. His reflexes had already kicked in, though, and he'd raised his blade to counter. I stepped away with a cheerful laugh. "Well, you're not _totally_ out of it," I grinned. He took a few deep breaths, catching his breath, before sheathing his sword with a flourish.

"You surprised me," he said.

"This is true," I said without a shred of remorse. "Yui asked me to, in my defense."

Kirito grimaced. "Yui..."

"Sorry, Daddy," the little sprite said, twirling around his head and ducking her head apologetically. "But you said you were going to practice, and I thought this would be the best way!"

I clicked my tongue. "C'mon, Kirito, don't be mad at Yui. The bloodthirsty little cherub was trying to help you."

"Uncle!" Yui wailed. "I'm not bloodthirsty!"

I just laughed and patted the pouting fairy girl on the head. "I know you're not, I didn't mean it." She grumbled up at me, but giggled after a second when I poked her cheek playfully.

Shaking his head, Kirito looked at me - and then looked _past_ me, jumping in place. "Woah!"

I blinked in surprise and whirled around, before jerking back, taking a step. There was a hooded girl, standing _right_ behind me. She was wearing all white - a white hoodie covering her features, a white skirt, white leggings. The only splash of color was her skin, a few blue stripes on her hoodie's sleeves and down its center, and the blue strappy shoes she was wearing. I raised my fists instinctively, preparing to strike -

\- when the girl toppled backwards, seemingly just as surprised as the two of us. She fell completely silently, without a cry or even a thump when she hit the ground. Was she... a projection, like Yui and Din? Something generated by the Augma. But why was she here, when neither of us had done anything strange?

"Oh, I'm sorry," Kirito said, reaching down to help her up. However, his hand passed straight through hers, and I nodded. An AR projection. He gasped in shock.

The girl slowly got her legs under her, still not saying a word or making sound at all. Even Yui and Din had sound effects when they moved; since she was entirely silent, but I could hear Kirito and the rest of the real world, I found myself on edge. Still on her knees, she mimed picking up something from the ground and collecting it in her left hand.

"Who are you?" Kirito asked.

I glanced at him. A random AR projection shows up, and _that's_ the first thing he asks?

Abruptly the girl surged to her feet and closed quickly. Her hood fluttered and for an instant I could see under it; I didn't get much of a glimpse, but I could see her wine-red eyes, piercing in their intensity. Then the hood fell back, covering her face again. She studied me and Kirito for a second, before she turned. Silently, she pointed up at the sky - I looked at where she was pointing, but it was just into the city.

Her lips moved silently, and then she disappeared.

Kirito blinked, and then raised up his hand to his Augma. I followed suit, tapping to temporarily turn it off and see who was responsible for that. However, the two of us were the only ones on the bridge. Either the culprit had already run off, or... "You see that, Yui?" Kazuto asked as we turned the Augmas back on. "Din?"

"Yes," our kids chorused, hovering in front of us.

"She didn't have an NPC tag," Kazuto said. I glanced around; nothing was out of the ordinary. The bridge was empty aside from the two of us. The only other living creature around was a butterfly, flapping its wings in search of flowers.

"And she wasn't a player?" I asked Din. He shook his head.

Kazuto's eyes narrowed. "Then... is she some kind of AR ghost?"

I tilted my head. "Can that even exist?"

"No, Daddy, Uncle," Yui said. "That's impossible."

Replaying the event in my mind, I hummed in thought. "Hey, kids, what was she saying? Right before she disappeared, her lips moved."

Yui raised a finger. "Judging by the way her mouth moved, she said the words, 'Look for-'. That's all I could tell."

Look for? Look for what? Something in the direction she was pointing? I turned and stared, but couldn't see anything. It was just... the skyline as usual. Nothing new had appeared overnight, or something strange like that. So what did that AR ghost want us to look for? And for that matter, why did I care?

I turned to say something to Kazuto when movement caught my eye just to my right. My head snapped to the side and I flinched, just as a hand reached out to tap Kazuto's shoulder. He let out a small gasp and whirled -

\- and both of us saw Asuna and Kana, staring at us. Kana was smirking slightly, while Asuna had a slightly confused smile on her face, her hand raised a little bit. "I... didn't mean to scare you," she said.

"Jumpy, much?" Kana snickered.

I sighed and shook my head, doing it as much to hide my pounding heart as much to deny Kana's teasing. "Lost in thought," I said. "That's all."

Kana smirked, shrugging elaborately. I rolled my eyes, but smiled anyway.

Both girls looked lovely this morning. Asuna was wearing something loose, a white long-sleeved shirt that framed her body nicely and a longer red skirt that fell to her knees. She had a red purse slung over her shoulder resting on her right hip, and a large decorative belt around her waist, along with a necklace with a blue pendant - looking closer, the pendant was actually a small Earth. Instead of hanging freely, her hair was bound in a loose braid that fell over her shoulder. Kana, to her left, was wearing something a little less frilly but no less feminine; a white blouse with a brown jacket the color of mouse fur, as well as a pair of fashionable pants with brown boots. She had a purse slung over her shoulder, but no other accessories.

"You two look wonderful," I said loyally. After a second I elbowed Kazuto, and the dumb boy complimented the girls as well.

C'mon now. _I'm_ supposed to be the one that's awful at interpersonal relationships...

...

The four of us wandered around the park, chatting idly. The temperature of the day was almost perfect; just cool enough to keep us from sweating, but not too cold. All in all, a perfect day for a date. Kana and I walked hand in hand, next to Kazuto and Asuna. I'm... not quite sure what to say about the park itself? There was grass. And flowers. And, always an occasion, a _tree_ or two. There were plenty of other young couples taking walks together, as well as a jogger or two getting in shape. Most of them had their Augmas on - they probably didn't even see the real world, but some fantasy concoction.

Honestly, I was in it more for the company. Conversation topics drifted wherever they wanted to go, with no goal in mind. It was a nice way to relax, especially after the intense fight that Asuna and I had participated in last night. I think Kana figured that, since my girlfriend was being particularly affectionate, nuzzling up against me. If I didn't know better, I'd think she was Argo the Cat, with the way she was all but purring when I looked at her.

And, while we walked, Din and Yui flitted around in the air, playing tag or something. It was kinda cute, really.

After a while, we decided to take a break and get a snack, taking a seat at one of the nearby concession stands. While Kana and Asuna chose a table, Kazuto and I stood in line to get food and drink. Kazuto and Asuna only got a can of soda each, while Kana and I decided to share a small basket of fries.

"Sorry I went without you, last night," Asuna said to Kazuto as us guys returned with the food and drinks. A cup of water for me, a coffee for my girlfriend. I don't know what she sees in that stuff, but as long as she wanted it I'd get it for her.

Kazuto smiled as he took a seat. "No, that's okay," he said. "I don't mind."

I glanced around, making a routine check on the kids. Din and Yui were playing hide and seek by this point, staying within a certain range, and I saw Yui flying, peering around. Heh. "So, Asuna," I began, pointing a fry at her, "the first battle, the one against Kagachi, you said you saw other SAO Survivors?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "That one player ranked second."

"Really? That guy, huh..."

I grinned at Kazuto's grumble. "Someone's jealous," I faux-whispered to Kana. She grinned and snagged the fry from my hand, popping it in her mouth and giving me a smug look when I stared at her flatly.

"I _think_ he was in the Knights of the Blood," Asuna continued. "...Maybe."

"Maybe?" Kazuto asked her.

She nodded. "Yeah. It's like, it's him, but he's different than he was in SAO. Back then, he went by Nautilus, and I remember he had potential. I also remember that he couldn't go on boss raids with us because he was afraid of dying."

Kana shifted, and I looked at her. "Something up, catling?"

"No," she murmured, leaning her chin on her hands, "but I feel like I remember something about him..." After a second, she shook her head, the two little hair antennas bouncing. "No, never mind, forget it. I'll keep trying to remember."

"It probably wasn't important anyway," I nodded, and patted her shoulders briefly before taking advantage of her distraction to sneak a fry out from under her nose. She wrinkled her nose at me.

"Well, he's definitely changed his playing style," Kazuto mused.

Snorting, I swallowed the fry. "I'm not sure, he moves like he's in VR," I grumbled. "I don't know how he does it, but it's beyond human."

"What do you mean?" Asuna asked me. Beside her, Kazuto looked my way curiously.

"I don't have any proof," I warned them, "but there's _something_ weird about how he moves. Hard landings off of a bridge without shattering his joints - a hard landing's when you don't roll to bleed momentum," I added for clarification. "It's not quite the right term, but close enough for government work. Anyway, that, and the speed he was moving at while fighting Kagachi. There's something going on, and I'm not sure what."

Asuna blinked. "I thought he was just a gymnast or something," she said.

"That'd explain _some_ of the movement, but a gymnast still can't break basic physics," I shrugged.

Kazuto hummed. "Did you talk to him?" he asked Asuna.

Asuna made a noise of denial. "I didn't know how he'd react to seeing me again. Still," she smiled, "we were in the same guild, so I'm a little concerned about him."

"Uh oh, looks like the second-in-command's back," Kana snickered, resting her chin on the table and smirking.

Asuna frowned at my girlfriend playfully. "Hey, watch it, Kana," she barked abruptly. "And sit up, that's bad table manners," she scolded her.

Kana stuck her tongue out but did as Asuna commanded. "Kazuto's your soldier here, not me," she grumbled. The four of us laughed, Asuna and Kana's giggling ringing out over my and Kazuto's chuckles.

When we got ourselves under control again, Kazuto leaned forward a little bit. "Hey, Asuna, Kana? Have you two heard any stories about this park? Y'know, ghosts?"

"Oh my god! Would you stop?" Asuna complained immediately, her face going a little pale. "You _know_ how freaked out I get, talking about stuff like that!" A lot. It's a lot. She gets freaked out a lot.

Kana shook her head. "Haven't heard anything, but I could always ask Din... if he weren't playing with Yui." I looked around to see if I could spot them, and saw Din flitting around the nearby bushes. Guess Yui found him and it was his turn to search.

"Sorry, sorry," Kazuto said to Asuna, smiling apologetically. The girl stared at him, puffing her cheeks out a little in irritation.

After a second, she smiled. "A-Anyway, Kirito," she said, "let's talk about how we're going to break the news."

"I'm sorry what," I said, almost choking on a sip of water. There are... a _bunch_ of different things that particular phrase could lead into. I didn't see a ring, and their relationship was still incredibly stable... No way.

"Eh?" Asuna asked me, blinking a few times. Kana and I stared at her mutely, before my girlfriend reached over and patted Asuna's stomach lightly. K-Kana... I was going to be _subtle_... "Oh! I-It's not like that!" she exclaimed immediately, going bright red. Beside her, Kazuto blushed. "It's my mom! She knows something's up with me and Kirito, so she's been grilling me about him."

"Ah," I said, relaxing in my chair a little. Kana snickered at Asuna and Kazuto's embarrassment. Always the gadfly in our friend group... But, that's part of the reason I love her. "That makes sense. Wait, Kazuto, have you not... met her parents officially yet?"

"Mm-hmm," Asuna nodded, glancing off to the side at me and Kana. Poor, long-suffering girl. "She's not mad or anything," she added, "but we should figure out how to tell her."

I looked at Kana, and our eyes met. I mean... I hadn't brought Kana to meet my father yet, and with luck she'd never have to, and she'd already met the parent a while ago. Meanwhile, I'd eaten Christmas dinner with her family, so... I don't think we ever had that problem.

"Oh, yeah... You're right," Kazuto said.

Just as he was reaching out to rest his hand on hers, Yui and Din plunged from the sky. "Everyone!" Yui exclaimed, resting her tiny hands on one of Kazuto's fingers. "Din and I were working on what Uncle asked, and we found something out about the game!"

I grinned as Din landed on top of Kana's hand. "Good job, kid," I said.

...

The news was urgent; unfortunately, that did mean we had to call an emergency all-hands meeting in Alfheim. Kana gave me a kiss on the cheek as we parted ways to head home, and Kazuto and Asuna exchanged a quick good-bye hug. The bus ride home was only fifteen minutes, but it felt like an hour, the way I kept catching myself glancing at the time. I tried to get myself to calm down, but even if I was outwardly calm I could feel the burning fire of curiosity inside me. Yui and Din hadn't said much, but I knew what I'd asked him to look into - and the urgency of the news meant that they'd figured something out about the location of the bosses in Ordinal Scale.

We gathered in Kirito and Asuna's house in New Aincrad, our usual base of operations when it came to the group as a whole. It was a bit of an emergency meeting, but most of us were able to make it. Agil wasn't able to get away from the bar - unsurprising, since that was kind of a seven days a week kind of thing - and Leafa was away at the kendo camp. The only unexpected absence was Klein, strangely enough. He was the one that was all gung-ho about Ordinal Scale boss fights. Oh well.

It did mean that Argo sat on my right instead of on my lap. She still leaned against me, of course, her tail twitching occasionally against mine. The rest of us took up our usual spots, Asuna standing next to Kirito in his comfy chair and Sinon next to me. Liz and Silica spread out a bit on the other couch, since Leafa wasn't here. Once again, I was glad that the girls had all agreed that it was fair to give Kirito his own chair, because we _all_ knew that they'd fight over sitting next to him otherwise.

At the end of the table, opposite Kirito and Asuna, Yui and Din hovered in midair on either side of a map of our local area. "So far," Yui said, "when a boss monster has appeared at an event, it has always been at nine PM. This is the location where Mommy, Daddy, Uncle, and Aunt Sinon fought Kagachi The Samurai Lord the other day." A blue circle appeared on the map, labeled Akihabara Urban Development X. Like the kiddo said, it was exactly on top of where we'd fought the samurai boss with Klein. "And this is the location where Mommy and Uncle fought last night!" Yui swooped to the side, where another circle labeled Yoyogi Park had appeared.

"Dad asked me to look into where the event bosses spawned," Din said seriously, "because he was tired of not being able to fight with Mom." I deny blushing utterly and totally, it was just hot in the room. Argo nuzzled against me, while Sinon giggled. The two girls on the other couch let out simultaneous coos, and Kirito and Asuna smiled at me. "On the map, you'll see the locations where the other nine bosses appeared. A flattened map of old Aincrad will be super-imposed on top of it."

Din waved his hand as Yui flew to his side. As he'd said, ten more dots appeared on the map, as well as the map he'd mentioned. Ah... Ah! I stared at the map in amazement. How did those two find this? Then again, Yui _was_ the old MHCP from the version of Cardinal running Aincrad, and Din _was_ designed to be an information research and compilation AI. I think I'll just be proud of my kid and my niece - they did a good job figuring this out.

"No way," Liz breathed. "Every place a boss showed up lines up with a dungeon in old Aincrad!"

Yui flew back over, hovering in front of the digital map. "The admins seem to have picked open spaces in the city, with coordinates that most closely match the dungeons."

"Because of that, we can predict where the next boss will appear." The map zoomed in on the bottom-left dot; I hadn't realized it at first, but it was labeled 'Boss 012', and we'd only fought the bosses from Floors 10 and 11 so far. "There are a few options, but the most likely spot of the next boss's appearance will be tonight at nine, at the Yebisu Garden Place in Shibuya.

Kirito raised a hand to his chin, and Asuna crossed her arms. Both of them studied the map thoughtfully. "Oh, this is great!" Silica said happily. "If we know where it's going to be, we can go too!"

"But won't your parents mind you're out that late?" Asuna asked.

Liz grinned. "Mine won't," she said. "As long as I'm hanging with you guys. For _some_ reason, she thinks Nick's reliable."

"It's my charming personality," I said in a deadpan. Everyone around me looked away, even Din, and I sighed. None of them ever believed me, huh...

Argo snickered. "I think it's because you're not a womanizer like Kirito."

Every other girl in the room shifted awkwardly, decidedly not looking at Kirito or Asuna, and Yui planted her hands on her hips. "No cheating, Daddy," she scolded Kirito.

After chuckling, Liz shook her head. "It's so weird," she said. "If this was VR, they'd pitch a fit."

"Yeah, I bet," Asuna smiled. Silica jumped, startled as Pina reared, spreading its wings and letting out a cry of agreement. You tell them, little guy.

"Well, have fun, guys," Sinon said, her tone resigned. "I have to work tonight, so I can't make it."

"Aww," I complained, leaning against her shoulder. She huffed but didn't push me off. "Noooo, Sinon, don't go, you're the only _sane_ one..."

Liz scowled at me. "And what's _that_ supposed to mean, mister?"

I flapped a hand at her. "Don't worry about it."

"Rythin!"

Still putting up with my weight as I traded barbed words with Liz, Sinon turned to look at Kirito. "How about you?" the blue-haired girl asked. "You gonna go to this one?"

Kirito shrugged. "Nah," he said. "I'll pass on tonight."

Liz let out a sigh of disappointment. "Geez," she muttered. "Are you _still_ not used to fighting in AR?"

"Nope," he said easily.

I rolled my eyes. "Can confirm."

The blacksmith shrugged. "Oh well," she said. "Suit yourself."

"Darn it," Silica muttered quietly.

I felt Sinon's head turn as her shoulders stiffened, and I moved my head for better cheek-poking access. "Are you getting _jealous_ , Miss Sniper?" I asked, poking her cheek.

"Shut up," she muttered.

Abruptly Liz stood up and grabbed Asuna, dragging her to the couch. The two of them flopped down, Liz throwing her arm over the Undine and youngest Cait Sith's shoulders comfortably. "Alright, ladies," she said with a grin, the two girls somehow surprised that Liz would do this. "Let's gear up and show that Yuna chick how us veteran players like to party!"

The three of them shared a smile, before the four girls - wait, when did Argo join the girl huddle - threw up their fists. "Yeah!" they cheered. Even Pina got in on the cheering. That little dragon is adorable, and the only reason I'm not getting a familiar myself is because it's kinda Silica's thing by now.

I raised an eyebrow. "I take umbrage with 'ladies', Liz."

"Eh, you're one of the girls half the time anyway," she said dismissively. I grunted sourly, not really able to deny the comment. Asuna and Silica _tried_ to hide their short burst of giggles, but Argo didn't even pretend she wasn't snickering at me.

"By the way," Kirito said, "where's Klein?"

"Who knows?" Sinon said easily, taking a glance beside me, where Argo had been sitting. I idly realized that all of us Cait Sith were wearing _something_ around our necks; Silica had a collar with a bell, like Alicia Rue, while Argo and I wore simple chokers and Sinon had a yellow ribbon that matched the ribbons keeping her bangs out of her face. "He's probably somewhere in Ordinal, grinding for points or something."

"You know," Asuna said, laying a slender finger on her cheek, "Rythin and I saw him last night, right before the battle started. But they were waiting on one of the other Fuurinkaazan guys to show, so I don't think he ever actually joined it." Meanwhile, Liz, Argo, and Silica were having a discussion of some sort.

Asuna glanced at me, and I shook my head. "Nope, never," I said. "I kept an eye out on all of our forces. A shame, too, he would have been a fantastic force multiplier. But that does remind me, next time one of you sees him, let him know I've got his bandana."

"Oh yeah?" Kirito said.

"What sucks about AR battles," Sinon said, "is that you have to go to an actual place to participate."

I shrugged. "That's why I'm a ride-giver," I said, "though now that Din and Yui figured out the prediction pattern we should be able to get there ahead of time."

Speaking of Din and Yui, the two of them flitted over to the table, hovering in the center. The little girl piped up, "Oh, speaking of going places, we should figure out when -"

"Yui!" Din said hurriedly, placing both his hands over her mouth. She blinked, confused. "I think that's private!"

Once he removed his hands, Yui tilted her head. "Daddy? Is that right?"

Kirito blanched, probably realizing that whatever the two Nav Pixies were talking about, it _was_ private. Beside me, Sinon stared flatly at him. I glanced at Argo, and she tapped her wrist. Later? Got it. I nodded back. The air in the room got a little awkward - if Kirito wanted it to be a secret from everybody, but Yui knew about it, there were really only a small subset of things it could be, and most of them involved Asuna in some way shape or form - until Liz stood up and clapped her hands twice. "You know what?" she said. "We should hammer out tonight's plan."

"Good idea, Liz," Argo said, grinning like she always did. "So where are we all meeting, and when?"

I sat back against the couch, watching idly as Kirito walked over to the door that led out of the house. I could see him talking to Yui through the windows, but didn't bother trying to lip-read. "Good job, kid," I murmured, reaching out subtly to Din with a fist. He bumped his fists against one of my knuckles. "Whatever Yui was gonna say, I'm pretty sure Kirito wanted it quiet."

He smiled happily.

After he was settled comfortably on my shoulder, I leaned forward and joined the conversation. "I can probably give people rides to the location, if you don't mind waiting a while on-site," I said. I already knew I'd be giving Argo a ride, but I could probably shuttle a few of the others ahead of time. Of course, it did mean they'd have to wait in public a little bit longer.

"Eh, sure, why not," Liz said. "It'll make my mom worry less if you're picking me up." I nodded and told her to be ready about two hours ahead of time - she grumbled about it, but I reminded her that she wasn't paying for gas, so if she didn't want to be ready on time she could take public transportation.

She agreed to be ready two hours ahead of time.

I was still chuckling when I pulled my AmuSphere off my head. Setting it back on the nightstand and safely away from my cat, I sat up. "Sorry, kitten-cat, didn't mean to disturb you," I said to my cat. He'd been sleeping on the pillow next to my head, and was now glaring at me sleepily like my moving was the worst thing that'd ever happened to him his entire life. "Go back to sleep."

Naturally, my cat got up and stretched luxuriously before jumping off the bed, black tail swishing in the air as he padded out of my room. _Cats_.

Rolling my eyes, I glanced at the time. Just after two, huh? Well, I did skip lunch - all I had was the small basket of fries I shared with Kana - and so it'd be best to make something now. I'd just eat a large late lunch, and then have a snack before going to pick up Rika and Kana. After we finish up the OS boss fight and I take the girls home, I'd have dinner lunch. ...Dunch?

 _No! Are you kidding me~?_

 _Vrrt vrrt. Vrrt vrrt._

The sudden vibration of my phone on the kitchen caught my attention. I tapped the side of my new headphones - they were surprisingly comfortable, for something I ordered two days ago on a whim - to pause one of Yuna's songs and pulled them down around my neck before answering the video call. "Hey, Nick, it's me," Kana chirped, smiling at me. "Ooh, what are you making?"

"Fish with stir-fried rice and a salad," I answered absently, propping my phone up against the side of the fridge. That way, I could see Kana and she could see me, and I still had both hands free to bustle around the kitchen.

"At least you're eating healthy," Kana said, nodding. "Apparently, the only thing Kazuto makes is pasta with pepperoncini."

I glanced back at her. "Seriously?"

"Heard it straight from Asuna."

Shaking my head, I sighed. "Gods, that boy needs to work on his diet... Anyway, what were you calling for? Not that I'm complaining, mind."

Kana smiled. "Couple things, actually," she said. Meanwhile, the fish was done cooking, so I flipped it over. Give it another few minutes... While that was cooking, I absently shifted the rice around to make sure it didn't burn before letting the pan sit on the fire to make the bowl of salad. "I guess first off is what Yui was about to mention in ALO today."

"Mmm?"

"So turns out, Asuna and Kazuto made plans for next Tuesday," Kana told me. "They're gonna go stargazing and watch the meteor showers."

"Neat," I said. Salad's done, fish is done... I dumped everything onto a plate except the bowl of salad, and carried them both over to the table. "Sounds like a romantic time," I called, raising my voice so that Kana could hear me. "Guess I can understand why Kazuto didn't want Yui to tell everyone. But... how do _you_ know?"

"Info brokers know everything, you know that," Kana said smugly.

I rolled my eyes. "Asuna has it marked on her calendar?"

"Of course."

Asuna's room was... surprisingly pink. It kinda shocked me every time I went in to tutor her, at least. I guess even the Lightning Flash likes her frills? I'd been in there often enough that I could picture it in my mind; walking in, you were immediately greeted by the vanity mirror sitting opposite the door, where Asuna did her hair and makeup in the morning. The left wall was devoted to her walk-in closet, a sensor opening the door when someone walked close; a few shelves lined the other walls, holding precious mementos that Asuna adored. There was a small nightstand along the right wall, and a small table in the center of the room; Asuna's desk was in the right corner, beside her dresser, with a shelf of books above it. Her bed was along the other corner, with pink sheets and a few throw pillows.

A cute room, I guess. I think I liked Kana's a little bit better; Asuna's bedroom was a little... I dunno, it felt a little sparse, though that was starting to change. Or maybe I was just biased because Kana was my lovely girlfriend. Who knows. Either way, Kana must have noticed it when she went over to meet with Asuna and pick out clothes for this morning's date.

"Well, we'll let them have their fun," I said. "I bet they've been planning it for a while."

Kana smiled. "Other than that, remember what Kazuto mentioned at the park? About the whole ghost in the park thing."

"Vaguely," I said. "Why?"

"I asked Din to look into it on the way home," she told me. "And he found a few interesting things. Other players have reported weird ghost sightings too, when they were using the Augma. Thing is, it's not centered in Yoyogi Park, one, and two, they only started posting it on the forums last week. The appearance is consistent, too - a young girl in a hoodie."

I tilted my head before taking a bite of the fish. Eh, good enough. "Huh. Weird."

Kana blinked at me a few times before narrowing her eyes. "I know that tone of voice," she said. "That's the 'I'm pretending to be nonchalant about something even though it's important' voice." I have a voice like that? "I bet you saw her, you and Kazuto both."

"Earlier, just before you and Asuna showed up for the date," I said. "It was weird, but ultimately pointless. She just showed up and disappeared."

Kana tugged at one of the locks of hair framing her face. "Weird... Oh well."

* * *

Having Rika on the back of my bike was a bit of a strange feeling. I mean, on one hand, my _back_ felt like Shino was riding instead of Kana, but the hands around my waist were certainly firm enough to belong to my girlfriend. Not altogether unpleasant, but a lot more perfunctory than the other two. She needed to hold on to something to stay safe, so she held my waist. That was it.

Sure, she was one of my sisters, but... honestly, I was the furthest from Rika. Then again, there was that time on the rooftop, when she...

Maybe she just doesn't show it the same way, but I know she cares about me just the same as the others.

I let Rika off the bike at the Yebisu Garden Place, but didn't bother killing the engine. "Thanks, Nick," she said, hands squeezing a little tighter around my waist before letting go. Heh... I knew it. "See ya in a bit." She waved to me before heading inside. I think Keiko said she'd be here ahead of time, to wait with Rika? I knew Asuna would be arriving roughly the same time as me and Kana, so probably.

The sun was starting to set by the time I parked my bike outside Kana's house. It wasn't as ornate as the Kirigaya or Yuuki household, since her family wasn't old or rich respectively, but it was still nice. Kinda like mine, I think. It didn't take long for the door to open after sending Kana a text, my girlfriend waving to someone inside before closing the door behind her. Pulling off my helmet as she approached, I smiled and said hello before Kana pressed a quick kiss to my cheek. "Hey, Nick," she said, letting me hug her.

Unlike the date earlier, she was wearing more practical clothes, a loose white shirt and some looser pants that looked easy to move around in. Instead of her boots, she was wearing sneakers. "Hey, you," I said, grinning at her. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah."

She got settled on the back of my bike, and just as I was about to start the engine, my phone rang. "Uh? Hang on a sec, catling," I said. "Kazuto's calling me."

Kana blinked and tilted her head. "What's he want?"

"Dunno, I didn't ask for anything. Maybe Yui wants to go out with Din or something." The situation was obviously ridiculous, but I'd probably be okay with it. They were cute kids, although since they were only... what, nine? Ten? It'd be just puppy love until a little later. Then again, they were AI...

I'm overthinking it instead of answering the phone. "Hey, Kazuto, what's up?"

"I just got a call from Agil," Kazuto said without preamble. "He found Klein."

"Oh, cool, where is the-"

"Klein's in the hospital." My mouth clicked shut. I didn't have any smart remarks. "I don't know what happened, but Agil said his arm was... badly injured."

I frowned. I felt Kana poke me in the back, and I glanced at her before raising a hand for patience. She took one look at my face and nodded seriously. "How bad? Are we talking anything permanent?"

"I don't think so." I let out a short sigh of relief. I might not be as close to Klein as I was to the others, but he was still a friend. I poke fun at him, but I don't want him _hurt_. "Agil said that Klein told him he ran into trouble going to an Ordinal Scale battle, before falling asleep. ...Be careful, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be careful," I said. "The others are already there, it's just me and Kana left to arrive."

"Hey... I think..."

Kazuto trailed off, thought unfinished, and I raised an eyebrow. "Still there?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, sorry. Never mind, don't worry about it. Stay safe, Nick. And Agil passes on a message, 'Be careful on the bike, man.'"

"I will. Later." I pulled my phone away from my ear and ended the call, staring at the blank screen for a few seconds before letting out an explosive sigh, leaning my head back to stare at the night sky. "Fuck."

Kana wrapped her arms around my waist. "Everything okay?"

I shook my head. "Klein got injured last night. Probably right after Asuna and I left him at the gates to the park." ...And I bet that ambulance that passed me and Asuna had been taking Klein to the hospital. Crap, now I feel like a jackass. "He'll be fine, though. Up and complaining about not getting points in no time."

Kana nuzzled into my back silently before letting go. "Well, let's get to the boss fight," she said gently. "Get our minds off of it."

I nodded and swung my legs over the bike, starting the engine and driving away from her house. I think it's fine if I take it a little bit slower, huh? It'd mean Kana and I arrived with only five minutes to spare, but safely. If it were just me? Eh, maybe. But with Kana as my passenger, there was a better chance of Thrymheim burning to the ground than me risking her, especially after hearing what happened to Klein.

I'll visit him tomorrow, take the bandana. I'm sure he'll appreciate getting it back.

...

Two minutes to go, and the nervous energy is pushing through me. Argo and I arrived and almost immediately loaded up Ordinal Scale before heading over to join Asuna, Silica, and Liz; they'd been waiting on one of the stairs, sitting down and chatting. Silica and Liz both wore outfits similar to Asuna; Silica's main color was pale blue with white lining on her shirt, belt, and gloves, as well as white leggings and two ribbons that poked out like rabbit ears. Liz, on the other hand, had gotten something a little more customized - a cherry red main color with gold lining, as well as pink leggings with a flower pattern down the side. Both girls had their weapons out and ready, Silica's dagger behind her back just like mine and Liz's mace sitting next to her on the stairs.

Out of all of us, Argo was the only one to add something new to her appearance. She'd chosen the plain white tunic with gold lining and black leggings, but the addition she'd made was the forest-green hooded cloak that draped around her like an old friend. I couldn't help but smile. This was the first time I'd seen her in Ordinal Scale, and she looked good.

And I don't know how, but she _somehow_ managed to get those whiskers drawn on her face. When I first saw them when we'd first started up the app, she caught me staring, and when I asked her, she'd just replied, 'That'll cost you, Ry!' and gave me a V for Victory sign.

She'll never change, and thank the gods for that.

My pacing brought me to the edge of the staircase, where I folded my arms on the banister, staring out at the people milling below. By this point, everyone not involved with Ordinal Scale had cleared out, leaving only the players. I squinted and grinned - there was the cat guy with the bazooka, chatting away. Was he going to be at _every_ fight?

"Gosh," Silica sighed behind me, and I turned to look at her. "I hope Yuna shows up to this battle." She and Liz were sitting on the same step, Argo a step above them, and Asuna was leaning against the stairs on the opposite side of the railing. Liz, like me, was fidgeting, moving her feet back and forth to burn energy.

"Silica, what do you think the deal is with Yuna?" Asuna asked slowly. "I mean, do you think she's a program, like what the developer says? Or do you think she might actually be human?"

Argo grinned sharply. "Whatever she is, she's definitely got a thing for Asuna. Not that I can blame her," she added when Asuna blushed. "You're a pretty girl, Asuna. If Kazuto hadn't claimed you, I'm sure the boys would be forming lines! Nya hah hah!" The compliment only made my sister blush harder, and I snorted in amusement. Well, it _was_ true. Liz cracked up, and Silica giggled as well.

After she managed to stop her giggles, Silica replied, "Well... I'm _pretty_ sure she's not a human. But she also doesn't seem like an AI either."

"Hey, if you ask me," Liz said, raising a hand in a dismissive shrug, "I can't think of a single human who can sing with such a crystal-clear, flawless voice."

Silica immediately elbowed the blacksmith in the side, earning a muted cry of pain from Liz. "So you're saying _my_ voice isn't crystal clear?" she muttered as Liz shivered in pain, a small 'healing needed' icon popping up over the older girl's head. "Is that it?" She elbowed Liz again.

Liz giggled weakly. "You sound good," she assured Silica. "...For a human."

Despite Liz's comforting hand on her shoulder, Silica still crossed her arms and turned away with a pout. I grinned at their joking; Asuna did as well, though she was more watching it like it was a head-on collision between two trains. "Liz, I'm never going to karaoke with you again!"

Everyone laughed at that one. "Aw, c'mon," Liz said. "I'm sorry!" She clasped her hands together and bowed her head, not that Silica was swayed from her indignant huff.

I glanced at the time and shifted. On the stairs, Argo reached toward her hip, where her claws were sheathed. "Heads up, ladies," I said. "It's go time."

The minute hand of the large analog clock in the center clicked, pointing to the ornate XII at the very top. Exactly nine... And here we go.

The world rippled, the wave of AR washing over us, and I let out a short breath of amazement. "Beautiful," Argo murmured as the five of us headed down the steps to the center of the area, and I had to agree. The walls on either side of us had turned into the usual gothic-inspired architecture, with swooping arches and jagged spires rising up along the top. The bottom of the walls, though, seemed almost like they were creating stone caves, somehow looking almost natural with their stalactites dangling over the entrances. The ceiling had become a regular sky, dark red clouds covering up the sky. Behind us, a castle rose in the distance, a crystalline blue fairy tale-esque dealie. The statues and fountains in the real world turned into glowing pillars of lights, looking for all the world like light had been frozen in place.

However, that wasn't what Argo was talking about, I think. That honor went to, of all things, the floor we were standing on. It was made of some sort of blue crystal material, with swooping cracks and streaks of color. It looked like a floor made entirely out of a single, massive precious gem. "Ry, this seriously looks awesome," Argo murmured to me, staring at the floor. "Were the others like this?"

"Most of them were more post-apocalyptic grunge," I said drily. "I think you're a good-luck charm."

"Nya hah hah," Argo laughed. "Then take me with you more often."

A red circle appeared in the center of the floor, and suddenly there wasn't any more time to talk. A column of roaring flame erupted from the ground, Argo flinching back - right, she's the only one who hasn't seen it - at the sudden burst of sound. I placed a hand on her back to steady her and she grinned at me, wiggling her fingers to make her claws click together. In response, I booped her nose with a finger. She wrinkled her nose at me.

"Focus, you two," Asuna sighed. Argo and I laughed sheepishly at her scolding before turning back to the center of the floor, where the boss was about to finish spawning.

A dark shadow appeared in the fire and my grip on my dagger tightened. Suddenly the column of flame burst apart, spraying sparks everywhere, and the boss was revealed. The Strict Hermit, boss of Floor 12, reared back and let out a weird bubbling clicking sound, matching perfectly with the hermit crab appearance. A faint grin tugged at my lips; fitting, of course, that the Hermit was one of the bosses with no adds to the fight.

Everyone tensed as the hermit crab let out a guttural hiss, but it didn't move past that. My eyes glanced over the boss, evoking that feeling of nostalgia and calling the memories back... Blunt damage to the leg joints to stop its mobility and jumping attack, and slashing damage to its claws to temporarily disable its multi-hit punching move. Weak spots were its two eyeballs, easiest hit with throwing attacks and piercing strikes like Asuna's rapier, and the part of its body that was protected by the shell.

It's two-fold. The more bosses I fight, the more I remember - and the higher the Floor it guarded, the more I remember. The Skull Reaper will _never_ be erased from my memory.

I looked up, motion catching my eye, to see a drone flying through the sky. It paused over a little ledge of rock that jutted out from the wall; the instant that purple lights started streaming from it, I realized who was about to appear, and the reaction that I should expect immediately after. Sure enough, Yuna landed lightly, grabbing the mic from her belt and waving her hand. "Is everyone ready?" she called out. "It's time to battle... so start the music!" She snapped her fingers and the music began.

"Yuna!" Silica exclaimed, clapping her hands together happily.

Up above the boss, the timer started counting down; the regular ten minutes, this time at 'EGP stg'. The first battle in Akihabara Urban Development X had been 'UDX akb', and Yoyogi Park had been 'YYG stg', so… Yebisu Garden Place stage, maybe? "We _so_ lucked out!" Liz said, before resting her mace over her shoulder, the arm with her round buckler planted on her hip. "You ladies ready to get tons of points tonight?"

"Yeah!" Asuna, Argo, and Silica cheered.

I grumbled, "Still not a lady..."

Liz just grinned. "And you're still close enough. Let's go!"

...

The Strict Hermit unleashed one of its most powerful attacks, the multi-hit slam. Over and over again, its claws smashed forward, trying to smash the upstart fighter in front of it into paste. The threat zone was pretty much just a straight line in front of it; it would just drive forward until it found a target to wail on. If it lost the target - through someone pulling them out of the way, or worse... - it would keep going until the move ended. If we were lucky, we could drive it into the wall; if we weren't, well... _Someone_ had to tank the blows.

Such as what was happening right now.

"I hate when I have to be the tank!" Liz wailed, desperately holding up the tiny buckler in front of her face. Behind her, Silica wailed, hiding and pressing against Liz's back to keep her stable and keep herself out of danger.

Right, yeah, those two never fought this thing...

"Argo!" I shouted, and my girlfriend responded, joining me in my charge for the boss's side. With twin shouts, we slashed our weapons at the boss's unprotected side, leaving crossed red marks. It wasn't enough to stop the attack though, and I gestured for Argo to step to the side. She did so and I -

\- twisted my body, bending to the side just in time for Asuna's rapier to smash into the center of the cross that Argo and I had made. Her blow struck with the force of a cannon, sending the boss rocketing into the wall at high speeds. I straightened up as Asuna grinned, flourishing her blade. "Our plan worked!" she said happily, ignoring Liz and Silica's dumbfounded expression.

"Worked?!" Liz squawked. "We almost got squashed!"

"Welcome to the frontline, girls," I drawled as Asuna giggled.

"Hot damn," a player said behind us. Oh hey, it's Tiger Guy. "You're kicking _all_ the ass out here!" Liz smiled proudly, while Silica scratched her cheek and giggled.

The boss, which had been embedded into the wall a few seconds ago, finally got its feet under it and started scurrying around. As players gasped, Tiger Guy and his buddy Dog Girl grabbed their weapons. "C'mon, slowpokes," he said. "Try to keep up!"

"Hey!" Liz shouted. "Those are our points, buster!" She and Silica laughed, running off to join the fight. I saw Argo skulking about the edges of the combat, waiting for her moment to strike, and moved to join her.

"Different than you remember?" I asked her idly, a hand catching her arm when she instinctively struck at me. "I remember you stopped attending the fights directly after the... It was definitely after the Floor 5 boss, but I can't remember exactly which one."

Argo blinked and then grinned at me. "Yeah, you can say that. Pretty sure my decision to leave the fighting to you all was the smart move. How did you handle this back in SAO?"

"Very, very carefully," I said. "Excuse me for a sec, gotta go save Silica."

I moved forward, running through the ring of players that were here to participate but not _really_ fight. The kind of people that would form a ring around two fighting kids at school, then scatter when a teacher asked for witnesses. I broke through just in time to watch Silica run up to The Strict Hermit and slash at its leg with her dagger; it was hiding its head, so someone must have struck one of the eyes.

Her dagger bounced off the red carapace harmlessly, letting out a metallic clang. The boss raised its head and glared at her, preparing to strike, and she screamed, flailing her arms -

\- just as my blade bit into the hard shell, cracking it and digging in from the stab. "Like _this_!" I grunted, body shivering from the impact. Then I drew my fist back and punched the cracked spot with a shout, slamming my knuckles into its body. It was amazing; I knew I was just punching the air, but my arm halted exactly like I'd struck flesh.

Silica ran back towards Liz as I shook my hand, taking a few steps back to gain distance. Before The Strict Hermit could focus on the two of us, though, heavy gunfire started plinking away at it, bouncing off of its shell. I let out a short breath and backstepped quickly, covering ground until I was standing next to Liz and Silica. "You okay?" I asked the younger girl. She was hiding behind Liz's back, jumping up and down.

"Yeah, I'm fine" she said. "That was scary! Liz, you gotta get in there and tank for me!"

"Huh?!" Liz exclaimed as Silica pointed at the boss.

I grinned. "You're the one with the shield."

"You suck!" she complained as the two of us dragged her forward.

Laughing, I lightly knocked my knuckles against her shoulder. "Alright, this is pretty simple," I told the two of them and Argo, who'd appeared out of nowhere. Seriously, they don't _have_ a Hiding Skill in AR, how does she _do_ that? "Liz, you and I are the heavy hitters since Asuna's... doing Asuna things." I don't know where she is. "Silica, Argo, that means you two are going to draw its attention. Just get it looking at you and away from us, okay?"

"You got it, Tactician sir," Argo drawled, grinning at my flat look of irritation. "Nya hah hah! Don't worry, Ry, we got this. Ready, Silica?"

"Y-Yeah!"

The two of them split off from us, heading to the right while Liz and I pushed straight forward. The boss had already eliminated a bunch of players, so the crowd had thinned out a bit - we were able to make our way to the front easily. As Liz and I moved forward, directly at the boss, Argo and Silica burst from the crowd to the boss's left. "Over here!" Argo exclaimed as her claws raked across the boss's side. And Silica's dagger... Well, she _tried_?

Either way, it caught the boss's attention. "Hope you want seafood for dinner, Liz," I said, and she barked out a quick laugh. "I'll go low, you just smash its head in."

"Got it!" Liz grasped the handle of her mace, and I accelerated just a little bit more. I slid to a halt by the boss's side and clenched my fists, punching forward in a quick one-two combo. My fists slammed into the joints of the hermit crab's legs and they crumpled inwards, making the boss pitch. "You're going down!" Liz shouted, just as she swung her mace in a brutal two-handed swing like she was hitting a baseball.

The boss reacted like she'd hit a home run, flying into the wall on the other side of the coliseum and landing on its back, helpless to move. "Good job," I said, grinning at her as she staggered to keep her balance from the force of the swing. "Careful, I gotcha." I caught her shoulders until she got her feet under her and could stand without my assistance.

"Thanks," she murmured, punching my shoulder just lightly enough to not do damage. "And good job to you too, Big Bro."

* * *

 **Fight time fight time fight time!**

 **Nick's actions during the MMO Stream were roughly how I go about watching streams – I start out doing two things at once and then realize thirty minutes later that I've been staring at the video the entire time. It's very frustrating, and even worse when it's the other way around and I've missed fifteen minutes of context because I got absorbed into whatever I'm reading on the other screen.**

 **The next day is a double date, hooray. Din and Yui continue to be cute together, Nick only half-scares Kazuto to death, and then a ghost appears. It's surprisingly difficult to come up with what Kana wears as casual clothing. With most of the girls, it's easy, since I can just look at what they're wearing normally, but Argo sadly doesn't appear in many casual clothes… I ended up just going to Google and picking something that looks okay. So, blame the internet if you don't like what she's wearing, I don't know.**

 **This chapter's got the first part of the Strict Hermit fight in it. Originally I was going to have the entire thing, but then it ended up being an extra five thousand words and, uh… 15k is a little much for a single chapter, sorry. Look forward to the next one, I guess, wherein nothing bad happens and everyone gets a ton of points.**

 **Many thanks to everyone that favorited, followed, or reviewed.**


	4. Elision

**Elision**

* * *

With a powerful blow, Liz and I had sent The Strict Hermit flying into the furthest wall with a crash. I grinned victoriously and helped my little sister keep her balance; she'd put all of her strength into the swing, and was almost going to fall over before I gently placed my hands on her shoulders. "Careful, I gotcha." I only steadied her until she got her feet under her and could stand without my assistance.

"Thanks," she murmured, punching my shoulder just lightly enough to not do damage. "And good job to you too, Big Bro."

The background music faded away, and I automatically glanced up at the clock. Hey, three minutes left still. Go team! At this rate, the boss should die in another two minutes if we all pile on it. As a strange, dual-tone hum filled the air, I scanned for the source in confusion - and saw that the platform of crystal Yuna was standing on was glowing an amethyst color that matched the lights that shone when she arrived. Is something going on?

When she started singing again, the music taking a slightly ominous turn as the fans that had already lost cheered, my eyes narrowed. "A music change?" I muttered, mostly to myself.

"You say something?" Liz asked me.

I shook my head absently. "Don't worry about it, just focus on the boss..." Still, it was strange. I could forgive the others for not realizing it; that was really only a thing in older RPGs these days. Asuna didn't play games before SAO, Liz was more of a casual gamer, Argo focused on MMOs, and Silica was just too young... But a music change when we reached a milestone in a fight, especially to something darker, maybe a minor key? That almost always meant something bad was going to happen.

"Move in! Everyone, attack!" At some player's shout, the more reckless players charged in. I was glad to see that Liz and Silica weren't among them, the two of them giving the boss a respectful distance. They knew the danger SAO bosses faced.

To our right something appeared, and I turned to look; a glowing sigil in the sky appeared, blue light streaming from it. My eyes narrowed. Was this what the music cue was for? "What the?" Liz gasped, she and Silica turning to look.

"Think it's a boss?" Argo murmured beside me, her claws at the ready.

"Dunno," I murmured. "They're usually _red_ gates..."

A glob of something blue, almost like water, dropped out of the spinning blue glyph. Instead of splattering when it hit the ground, though, it bounced a little bit off the ground and then burst. It was an egg, almost; what hatched from it, though, wasn't a boss at all.

Instead, a familiar Feathered Little Dragon was sitting on the ground. ...What.

...Pina? No matter how I looked at it, the little dragon sitting on its haunches to the side of the battle looked completely identical to Silica's tamed pet. It hopped up and down a few times, screeching for attention.

Silica visibly brightened at the sight of her beloved friend. "Pina!" she cheered. Everyone grinned at the sight of the cute dragon, Liz lowering her mace and shield. Even Argo giggled as she brushed against me lightly. Still, I didn't loosen my grip on my dagger.

"It's tiny," one guy said with a grin as Liz let out a happy sigh.

Silica rushed over to say hello to her friend. With a giggle, she knelt down in front of it and offered her hand to Pina. "Did you come to help us fight?"

The first sign that something was wrong - aside from the music, I mean - was when Pina hopped back from Silica and flared its wings in a threat display, hissing at her. Silica jerked her hand back, letting out a confused and hurt noise as she stared at the growling monster. "Silica...?" I murmured.

Abruptly everything changed. A red light shone from the Feathered Little Dragon - because it _clearly_ wasn't Pina at this point - and it started to grow, expanding rapidly into a massive dragon looming over Silica. The poor girl whimpered in fear as the dragon roared, shaking those of us watching.

The new monster was huge, easily two or three times my own height. Red eyes gleamed menacingly from above, set in a head covered in dark scales. Two long whiskers trailed from its jaw. It had a red underbelly, and was standing on its hind legs; with the two arms in the air, that meant it was a quadruped. Four wings flapped, a wicked-looking spike topping the joint. The wings were thin, blood-red membranes that shouldn't have been able to support a creature of that size, but probably would.

"Dad! Mom!" Din said suddenly, the little fairy appearing from behind us and pointing at the monster. "I recognize that from Yui's memories! It's Dorz'l The Chaos Drake, boss of Floor 91!"

"Ninety-what?!" I yelped. "Silica, run!"

The girl shrieked in panic, obeying my command automatically. She moved just in time, because Dorz'l bent its long, serpentine neck to snap at her. Its jaws slammed shut right behind her. "Silica!" Liz shouted. "This way!"

I glanced behind me. The Strict Hermit was already back on its feet, the stun period from my and Liz's intense blows over. A few players, running from the dragon, got too close to the crab and were crushed by its massive claw. Crap... two bosses? And one at full health? This is insane! And we have a four-minute time limit...

The raid was in shambles, the living players scattering. I gritted my teeth as order disintegrated. Escape? No, players interested in watching the fight but not actually fighting were clogging the exits, forming a living barrier that would prevent us from leaving. The walls on either side wouldn't work either, though maybe...

Dorz'l opened its maw, pausing in its chase of Silica - and the inside of its mouth started glowing red. Breath attack! Fireballs launched from its maw, flying over Silica's head as she kept running desperately. "What'd I do, what'd I do, what'd I do!" she screamed.

Asuna ran up to me. "Rythin!" she shouted. "What's going on?!"

I shook my head wildly. "I have no idea! But..." My mind whirled quickly. Not much time, just gotta go with my gut. Like that time on the second Floor - simplify the equation by removing the boss. "Asuna, go save Silica. Liz, Argo, with me, we're killing the Hermit!" Asuna and I were the only two fast enough to reach Silica; but I was a better fighter than she was in AR. I could kill it faster.

A chorus of agreement met me as Liz and Argo ran to fight the crab, and I turned to glance at Silica one last time before moving to engage the weaker boss - and I winced as she slammed face-first into someone's chest. Should always look where you're running... Then I realized who she'd run into. Eiji, the number two player. She said something, and he -

\- reached out and shoved her, hard. My eyes widened, and I snarled, intending to do something about it... But I couldn't. "Silica!" Asuna shouted, running to save our friend. I was torn between going to help the others and helping Silica... but in the end Argo shouted a cry of challenge at The Strict Hermit and I had to trust that Asuna would help her.

Turning, I raced towards The Strict Hermit. I have to kill it as _soon_ as possible. It tore at me to turn my back, especially after I heard the dragon roar and the chatter of gunfire coming from behind me. Fuck... I need to end this quickly and help my sisters!

I ducked past Liz, dodging the head of her mace easily as she swung at the boss's legs. "You're keeping me from them!" I snarled under my breath before plunging my dagger into the boss's left eye. The Strict Hermit let out a cry of pain and focused on me.

Perfect.

It tried to smash me with its claw and I grinned fiercely, parrying the blow with my dagger. The claw slid to the side with the sound of screeching metal, sparks flying freely from the blade, and I quickly slashed downwards at the exposed joint. The blow easily severed the massive limb, and my grin widened as the claw hit the ground with a crash. The boss didn't seem too pleased with my attack, not that I cared; I lashed out with a blow that slammed into the center of its upper body. The carapace cracked loudly.

Beside me, Argo darted in and her claws flashed out, slicing across the weakened armor and leaving red marks. As soon as she was out of the way, I stepped forward again and punched even harder, with my left hand. This time the blow completely pulverized the armor and knocked the boss upside down from the force of my attack. "Holy crap," Liz muttered as I shook my hand out.

The Strict Hermit's legs flailed pathetically as I approached it. I didn't bother with a quick quip or one-liner - instead, I just methodically aimed my dagger, waited, and then thrust my blade into its remaining eye. The boss let out a screech of pain before it froze, and I withdrew my dagger, flicking it to the side like I was trying to get blood off of the blade. I recognized this - it was the exact same thing that had happened to Kagachi The Samurai Lord and The Storm Gryphon.

The Strict Hermit exploded into a colorful spray of confetti that expanded outwards. After a second or two, it froze in midair, before the explosion reversed itself and imploded into a single point. Once it had collapsed on itself, the little bubble in midair popped, letting out a tiny spray of particle effects that quickly disappeared.

I'd killed it.

Still, I had no time to celebrate. "Asuna!" I turned around at Kirito's shout to see him racing toward me - and then past me. I whirled to see what was going on, only for my eyes to widen at what I found.

Asuna was lying in Silica's arms limply, all but motionless. I don't know what happened, but rage coursed through me and pushed me to _utterly destroy whatever hurt her_. Her Ordinal Scale equipment had disappeared, leaving her in her casual clothes, an orange shirt and a pair of tight black pants she wore with strappy sandals. She'd been defeated - probably by Dorz'l overhead. Silica was cradling Asuna and calling her name desperately, concern clear on her face even from here.

I don't even remember running through the flame blasts peppering us from above, but I blinked and I was kneeling by Asuna, next to Kirito. "Asuna!" he cried, gently supporting her head. "Are you okay?!"

Asuna's eyes trembled, and my fury _exploded_ when I saw the trails of tears on her cheeks. _Eiji. He did this_. Slowly, Asuna moved her head - I couldn't tell if she was shaking her head or nodding - and her eyes fluttered open. She was staring past me -

\- "You bastard," I snarled at Eiji. He was just standing there, watching over the four of us impassively. "Going to _kill you!_ "

The viper within me hissed as I surged to my feet, fully intending on extracting a pound of flesh for whatever he'd done. Before I took a step, I froze at the pinprick of steel at my throat. His sword had leapt into his hand and was leveled straight at me, preventing me from moving. He'd moved so fast to close the distance between us that a blast of wind followed. I'd never experienced anything like that before, and I felt the wind tousle my hair.

I was tempted to just say fuck it and skewer myself to get close, this wasn't a _real_ sword, but the animalistic part of me flinched at the close brush with death. It was just enough for my common sense to get a hold over my anger.

"You _dick!_ " Kirito screamed, rising to his feet. Eiji's eyes flicked to him and the point of the sword shifted just slightly. I put out my arm to block Kirito from getting closer, and Eiji smirked faintly.

"You're pathetic," he said to Kirito. "You might have been the greatest swordsman in VR, but you're _nothing_ in AR."

Smug bastard. "Looks like you can fight _now_ , Nautilus," I sneered, the viper hissing in my ear. "Or is it just that you were too scared of dying back in SAO?" His smug expression cracked and I pressed the attack, darkly glad that I was able to hurt him like he hurt Silica and Asuna. "Number two in the game, I see. Guess you think you're pretty impressive, Nautilus."

"My name is Eiji, now," he growled out.

"Is that so, Nautilus?" I asked him. "Seems to me that you're just running away from your past. What's wrong, too embarrassed of how useless you were in Aincrad?"

I don't know _why_ , but that last jab shattered his composure entirely. His expression twisted in total rage, and the hand holding his sword trembled, the point cold against my throat. Shit, he might actually try to kill me. Did I go too far? "Shut up!" he all but screamed.

Kirito suddenly pushed past me. "You son of a bitch!" he snarled, grabbing at Eiji. His hand closed on nothing but air; the instant he'd started to move, Eiji had flipped backwards in a graceful and entirely impossible acrobatic move. Kirito gritted his teeth, eyes wild with anger, and I prepared to attack the number two player in the game -

\- when a slender hand wrapped around one of my fists. I twitched, startled, and looked to see Argo holding onto my right fist. She shook her head silently, and I gritted my teeth. I looked back at Asuna, taking in the sight of how she was lying limp in Silica's arms, before letting out a wordless snarl containing nothing but anger. Still, it vented enough, and the viper slowly started to settle down.

Because I'd turned my head, I saw Liz running towards us with a few players flanking her. She must have gathered reinforcements. "Hey, you!" the blacksmith shouted, waving her mace in the air. "Ever heard of game etiquette?!"

A trio of fireballs exploded at her feet, and I heard her shriek cut off. Liz! My hand tightened on my dagger so hard it felt like I was going to crush the hilt. Fire is everywhere, my sisters are getting hurt, and I can't do anything to protect them. I let out a shuddering breath, rage coursing through my body with every heartbeat as I glared daggers at Eiji. Even after another fireball smashed into the ground between us and Dorz'l landed heavily in front of us, I didn't break my stare.

The viper inside was hissing loudly, and I couldn't hear anything else. Just the hissing, driving me to kill Eiji for harming my family.

Dorz'l's head approached us, roaring -

\- and then the dragon froze, all sound cutting out. It took a few seconds for the change to make it through my anger and hatred, but I looked at the clock. Time up.

"Time's up!" Yuna called out, snapping her fingers. Dorz'l immediately flapped its wings and lifted up in the air, growling, before turning around and flying off into the distance. "See you later!" she called cheerily, waving goodbye to the dragon. Looking back at Eiji, my lips twisted in a snarl as I realized he'd disappeared while we were all distracted.

"Wait!" Tiger Guy shouted. "What about the bonus!"

All of the players that weren't in our circle of friends and family shouted in irritation, chasing after the retreating form of the dragon. "Hey!" Liz exclaimed. "I thought you were going to _help_ Asuna!"

Assholes.

With the sound of a machine powering down, the AR world faded away, revealing the real world underneath. It was perfectly fine - not a scratch on it, whether it had been from the crab smashing into the wall from the force of our blows or Dorz'l's explosive fireballs. I sheathed my dagger in irritation at Eiji's disappearance, before smoothing the emotion from my face.

Liz ran up to catch her breath, standing with the rest of us. "Asuna," she said hurriedly, "are you okay?"

Asuna was still lying limply - I don't know what happened, but it had drained her. It looked like it was hard for her to keep her eyes open, but she still tried to give Rika a small smile.

A light footstep behind me made me whirl. Yuna had hopped down from the stage and was striding towards us. "Congratulations," she said to me. "You beat the boss, Rythin. So here's your bonus~!"

Before she could kiss my cheek, I stepped back, putting distance between me and the AR idol. "Not interested," I said. Argo looked at me and nodded approvingly.

"Oh, that's too bad," she said before giving me a wink, a little pink heart floating out towards me. "Better luck next time, Asuna," she called out to my sister, who just watched her silently. After delivering another wink - another AR heart came out of this one too - to her, the usual pink light enveloped Yuna and she disappeared.

Once she was gone, it was just the six of us in the empty area. Asuna brought her hand to the ground and tried to stand up, Liz immediately kneeling by her side to prevent her from toppling. "I'm sorry, Asuna," Silica said, her voice thick. She was close to tears. "This is all because I was being stupid."

Asuna turned to look at Silica, and Liz clenched her fists, turning to me, Kirito, and Argo. The three of us were still standing. "Can you believe that number two guy pushed Silica like that?!" she exclaimed. I gritted my teeth - and didn't realize that my fist had clenched until Argo's cool hands tugged at my fingers, forcing them to spread out so she could hold my hand. "What an asshole!"

Now that Eiji was gone, Kirito seemed to have calmed down. "Nice save, Asuna," he said, walking over and kneeling down by her side. "That's another reason they made you second-in-command back in..." Asuna looked down at the ground without a word. "Hey, what's wrong?" my brother asked immediately. "Did you get hurt?"

Asuna jolted and shook her head, making a sound of denial. "No, it's nothing," she said, giving him a smile. It seemed a little forced, but then again, she was probably exhausted.

"Want me to take you home?" Kirito asked.

Asuna nodded her agreement. "We'll help you up," Silica said immediately.

"Hang on to my arm," Liz said. Together, the girls worked to get Asuna upright and on her feet. Once she was standing, she swayed a little bit, but didn't collapse, and I let out a small breath of relief. Her footsteps were a touch unsteady while Kirito carefully led her home, but she seemed more or less okay.

I let out a slow breath, closing my eyes and wrestling the viper back inside me. "Okay," I said slowly, turning to smile at Argo. She studied me for a few seconds and then nodded, even though her hand never left mine. "Liz, Argo, which of you wants a ride first?"

...

I parked my bike outside Kana's house, and both my girlfriend and I got off. It was late - she'd let Rika have the ride home first - and we were both exhausted. "Do... you want to stay, tonight?" she asked me, resting a hand on my arm.

Smiling, I pulled off my helmet and rested my forehead against Kana's. "Thanks for the offer, catling," I said, "but it'd probably be best if I get home. Don't want the parent to get worried, y'know?"

She giggled. "Gotcha. Hey... Why did you turn down the kiss on the cheek? Yuna's pretty, after all."

I blinked at her in confusion. "...Because I don't know her?" I half-replied, half-asked. "You know how I feel about people I don't know touching me."

Kana shrugged. "Yeah, I know. Still, I wanted to ask."

"A few other reasons, too," I said with a smile. "I didn't want Din to yell at me, for one."

"'Dad, no cheating on Mom!'" my girlfriend said with a sharp grin. "He's picked up more than hobbies from Yui, after all."

I laughed. "Yeah. Alright, catling, I have to get going. See you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow, then," she said. "Love you, Nick. Sleep tight."

"Love you too. Night."

On the way home, I wondered idly. Part of my unthinking reaction to Yuna's advance had been because I was dating Kana, of course, and part of it had been because I just didn't want her to touch me. A third part, though, had been because I didn't _know_ her. She wasn't one of my family, like Shino, Asuna, or any of the others.

...Thinking about it, I don't actually mind if my sisters kiss me on the cheek. It was just a display of affection, after all. Nothing more. …I think.

* * *

I didn't sleep very well. It wasn't surprising, considering the state that Asuna was in when she left last night. It took a while to fall asleep, and when I finally did I woke up several hours later. My eyes felt heavy and I groaned, sitting up. "Ugh, I hate it when I sleep like crap," I muttered to my cat. He blinked up at me before yawning widely and curling up tighter. "And good morning to you too," I said, petting him a few times.

After getting out of bed, my first and immediate task was to check my phone. I hadn't gotten any messages yet, but I was still worried; I was about to send Asuna a message when I remembered that I tended to wake up earlier than her on Sundays. After all, she had school the rest of the week, and she liked taking this morning to sleep in. I stared at my phone, and then decided that waking up _Kazuto_ was a much better idea. I sent him a message asking if Asuna was okay, and then tossed my phone back on my desk and heading downstairs. I need breakfast.

When I got back after eating the omelet I cooked up, my phone was blinking. Immediately I grabbed it and swiped at the screen, nearly dropping my phone in my haste. Asuna had better be okay -

\- I froze, staring at the message. 'Call me when you read this'. Just that, and only that. Not even his customary signature at the bottom of the message.

My breaths were coming rapidly, far too quickly, and I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to calm down. I couldn't... I didn't know there was anything wrong. Asuna was _fine_. She was just shaken from getting killed yesterday, that's all.

The phone in my hand rang a few times, and I put it on speakerphone so it could just sit on my desk. I needed to make sure it wasn't anywhere near my hands, since they were opening and closing convulsively. It kept ringing, and I glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes after nine...

"Hey."

I looked up at my phone, and a small gasp ripped out of my lungs. "Kazuto, it's me. Is everything okay with Asuna?"

Kazuto didn't answer right away, and my heart pounded. Finally, he said -

I stared at the phone, barely able to remember to breathe. Amnesia. 'Asuna's forgotten everything about Aincrad. She can't remember anything.' Asuna has amnesia. 'Not how we met, or how she and I bought the log cabin, or how we adopted Yui.'

My head spun, and I felt like I was going to fall over, even though I was sitting still. "Is she..." I paused when the words wouldn't come out, and forced myself to swallow. I need to know. "Are you at the hospital with her?" A small, distant part of me was impressed at how calm my voice sounded. Then again, the doctor from Yokohama North General Hospital knew us from our time with Y-Yuuki, so he'd take good care of them.

"Yeah," Kazuto said, his voice sounding tired and drained. How long has he been awake? "She went through the tests this morning. According to the doctor, she went through a limited memory scan that targeted her memories of SAO. He said that it happened because she was put in a situation that reminded her of SAO, which let the neurons be identified and scanned. And that's not all," he said. "There's been more players with symptoms like Asuna's, in the past few days. And guess what - they were all playing Ordinal Scale's event battles."

"The Augma, then," I said. "And the SAO bosses. When a player's defeated, they're reminded of death."

"Yeah," he said.

"And Asuna?"

Kazuto sighed. "The doc told her that there wasn't any sign of physical damage to her brain. His theory is that the electron pulses messed with her spine, so she can't recall the memories properly. But he needs more tests before he'll know more."

I realized that my hand was drumming the surface of the table repeatedly and pulled it away. "...And after Asuna left the room?" I asked him quietly. I could tell, just from how Kazuto said the words, that the doctor had more to tell him when Asuna wasn't able to hear.

"...He can't tell whether it's a glitch in the software, or a design feature," Kazuto said finally. "And that any SAO player runs the risk of losing their memories too. Be careful, Nick. I don't want you to get hurt."

I nodded, even though he couldn't see it. "I will be," I said. "Go ahead and warn the others. I'm... gonna go visit Klein pretty soon. See if he's got..."

"Got it," Kazuto said. "I'm gonna stay with Asuna for a while, but... I'll talk to him later. Let me know what you find out."

I swallowed. "Later, Kazuto. Give Asuna my love."

"I will. See you, Nick."

The call ended.

I was almost impressed at how calm and steady my voice had been through that entire conversation. My face felt cold, and my hands wouldn't stop shaking... Asuna's memories... She'd forgotten about -

I clamped my jaw shut, lurched from my seat, and ran. I barely made it into the bathroom in time, my stomach upheaving the second I was kneeling in front of the toilet. My earlier breakfast came back up as I vomited convulsively, my hands clenching the sides of the toilet bowl hard enough that anything less than porcelain would have cracked. The sour, acidic stink of the vomit wouldn't leave my nostrils the whole time.

The first heave was the food; the second the liquids I'd drank since waking up. I still wasn't done after the two, though, and a few dry heaves racked my body as my body tried desperately to reject whatever was making me so sick.

Too bad... It wasn't anything in my stomach that was causing this.

Once the heaving had stopped, I carefully stood up, ignoring my shaking hands, and wiped at my mouth and nose with a tissue to clean myself. At least I made it to the bathroom in time and hadn't vomited everywhere, so the rest of the cleaning was just flushing everything down the toilet. Once it was gone, I rinsed my mouth out repeatedly until only the memory of the smell remained - and then I stripped down and took a hot, hot shower.

When I emerged again, I felt almost normal again; but the viper inside was awake, and I had no intention of letting it go back to sleep. Klein should have some answers for me. And if he doesn't...

Well, I'll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

...

"Rythin!" Klein said with a smile. "Good to see you, buddy. Surprised you came all this way to visit me."

I offered him a faint smile. "You left something behind," I said, holding out the bandana I'd picked up a while ago. "Figured you might miss it."

"Hey, my bandana!" he exclaimed. "Thanks, man. Just lay it on the table over there."

I did as he asked, walking around his bed to rest the colorful fabric on the stand, next to the decorative vase of flowers. They must be the ones that come with the room. "How's your arm?" I asked him, glancing at the injured limb. His right arm had been messed up, according to Agil.

"Eh, it's not too -" Klein started to say, moving his arm to prove his words, before he cut off, hissing in pain. My eyes narrowed. "I feel worse about making you guys worry," he said, his voice shaky.

I nodded, and turned to stare out the window. "Klein. You trust me, right?"

"'Course I do," he said without hesitation. "We're friends, right?"

I chuckled softly. "Right. I'm gonna ask some awkward questions, then, if you don't mind."

"Go ahead," he said. I could see him grin at me in the faint reflection of the glass. "But I might not answer if they're too personal."

"Do you remember Aincrad? Everything that happened in SAO?"

He froze. I turned around to see him staring at me, eyes a little wide. He didn't reply, but his body language told me everything I needed to know. His head drooped a second later as he stared at his lap. "No..." he said. "If I try to think about it, it's like my head's stuck in this big-ass fog." Then he looked up at me. "But it's not like it was all fun and games for us, right? I dunno..." he sighed. "Maybe it's better I _don't_ remember."

I nodded, not judging his answer one way or another. "What exactly happened, when you were injured? You were fine when Asuna and I left to fight the boss, and gone when we were finished. That gives us... roughly fifteen minutes that I don't _know_."

I nearly snarled the last word, but managed to keep the pulse of rage contained to just a quiet hiss. Klein watched me, but eventually nodded. "We were attacked by a boss," Klein said.

"An SAO boss."

"I'm pretty sure," Klein nodded. "Though... I don't know for certain. It was a stone ogre creature, and after I cut it, lava started pouring out. Sound familiar to you?" I nodded silently. It was from SAO, alright. Zehghi The Flame Caller, the Field Boss from the 11th Floor. "Okay... Well, the boys and I were fighting it, when someone attacked us from behind. It was that number two kid, Eiji. He took out everyone with one punch. He moved kinda like you, come to think of it, just faster."

My eyes narrowed. Eiji. Of course it was him. He'd been the one that pushed Silica over when she was being chased.

"I tried to kick his ass, but he was able to dodge every punch I threw," Klein sighed. "It was like the bastard could see the punches coming. He broke my arm and then held me down while the boss..."

He trailed off, looking away, and I stood up from where I'd been leaning against the wall. "I think I know the rest," I said gently. "You don't need to think about it if you don't want to." He smiled faintly at me. "Kazuto said he was going to swing by later, say hello."

"Okay, cool," Klein said. I figured that I'd bothered him enough, and said my goodbyes. "Thanks again for bringing my bandana back," he told me just before I left the room. I grinned at him, before leaving and sliding the door shut behind me.

As soon as Klein couldn't see, the grin vanished, replaced with nothing but cold fury.

Eiji.

He'd done this, all of it. I would have kicked his ass out of principal - _nobody_ touches my friends and family - but now this was an immediate problem. Because of him, Asuna had been...

 _And now he was going to tell me exactly what he did and how to undo it, even if I had to break every bone in his body first._ _The viper hissed in feral glee._

"Din," I said, talking out loud as I equipped my Augma. I was alone in the elevator. "I need you to find Eiji. The number two player of Ordinal Scale."

My son appeared, standing next to me, full-sized. His eyes were serious. "I can do that. How visible should I be?"

"Don't get in trouble." Translation: I don't care, but don't get caught. "I need his location as soon as possible."

"Understood. I'll send you coordinates as soon as I have them."

He vanished with a flash of light just as the elevator doors opened. I tapped open a list of nearby places to eat; it was early - barely eleven - but I needed to eat now. It would take some time for Din to come through, after all, and I'd lost my breakfast. Heh... I could appreciate the irony of using the Augma to assist me in tracking down Eiji.

It took two hours for Din to get back to me. I'd finished eating a while ago and was sitting by my bike, absently watching the people on the street pass by while I flicked through my phone to keep myself busy. "I found him." That was all Din had to say before I was moving frantically, pulling my helmet on and shoving my phone into the attachment on the side of my bike so I could use it for directions.

"Tell me where," I hissed, starting the engine. My jaw tightened and I felt my lips pull back into a feral smile. Found you.

My phone lit up with a set of coordinates and I pulled into traffic, following the orders. Every few minutes the distance marker changed as Din updated the coordinates of the destination for me, and I said a silent thank you to him. I might have been going faster than was allowed, but I wasn't pulled over, fortunately.

When the phone chimed, showing that I'd reached my destination, I pulled over and parked. I stared up at the nearby parking garage; exactly where the destination marker said Eiji was hiding. "Where is he?" I asked Din. The sibilant hissed.

"He should be in there," Din told me. "I don't know what floor, though."

"Good enough," I said, pulling off my helmet. I briefly considered that this might be a bad idea before shaking my head. No. Eiji needs to pay for this, and I was going extract every last bit of suffering Asuna and Klein had gone through from his flesh.

I stepped into the parking garage. "Eiji!" I roared. It echoed in the concrete dungeon. I grimaced, tasting copper in the back of my throat, but that didn't matter. "Get out here! **Nautilus**!"

Fortunately, it was the middle of the day, just after one; the office-worker's lunch breaks were over. "I told you, I don't go by that name anymore," a smooth voice said. I heard footsteps before I saw Eiji appear. A trick of the acoustics. "Hello, Rythin." He looked the same as in AR - which, y'know, wasn't surprising - but instead of his fancy longcoat with purple Tron lights, he was wearing a simple blue and red jacket with a high collar. His Augma was on his ear, and the one hand not in his pocket was gloved.

"Cut the shit," I snarled as I walked forward, stopping a few steps away from him. The viper hissed, writhing inside me. "What the _hell_ did you do? Why are the SAO Survivors losing their memories? And how much do I have to hurt you until you tell me how to fix it?"

"What makes you think I'm the one behind -"

Eiji stepped to the side, just barely enough to dodge the punch aimed directly at his chin. His eyes narrowed, and he jumped away from the follow-up backhand. He landed further away than I would have expected, and judging by his expression he didn't mean to jump as far away either. Is his strength out of his control? Or did I scare him? "I said cut the shit," I hissed as I stalked closer. "I know it's you. I know it's the Augma. Ordinal Scale's SAO bosses. And I'm going to _kick your ass until you tell me everything I want to know!_ "

My snarl echoed briefly in the air, and I was moving before it died away. With a hiss I snapped a punch towards Eiji's chest. He barely managed to get out of the way in time, and I didn't leave up the pressure. A step and punch was avoided too, even though I knew I had good form. Eiji's smirk was shaky, but when he managed to dodge the roundhouse kick aimed at his head it widened.

I gritted my teeth and doubled down, pushing myself to move faster. I bulled forward and threw a quick combo, my fists snapping towards his head in rapid succession. He tilted his head out of the way of the first one and ducked, faster than I was expecting -

Gah!

His fist planted itself in my stomach, and I coughed in pain. He'd moved so fast I barely caught sight of his movement before he punched me. But I could see it coming - I just couldn't block in time. I'd managed to exhale, at least, so I hadn't had the wind knocked out of me. I took a rasping breath and hissed again, throwing a right-handed jab toward his face.

His eyes widened and he leaned backwards to dodge under the fist, the moron. I immediately snapped a kick at his left knee and collided with it solidly. The first hit I'd landed in the fight.

He fell to the ground heavily with a rush of breath but twisted, acrobatically flipping into a handstand before landing neatly on his feet. I probed at my stomach, taking a cautious breath... Nothing _felt_ injured, and I wasn't coughing up blood. He just hit like a truck, that's all. Even though he was physically skilled, he was clearly not _used_ to fighting. So then how was he dodging my attacks?

'It was like the bastard could see the punches coming.'

Klein's voice echoed in my memory and I grinned fiercely. "I see," I said.

"See what," Eiji said, still insufferably smug.

"You're _cheating_." He stiffened. "I don't know how you're so powerful or how you move like you do, but I know why I can't hit you."

I exhaled in a harsh breath and rushed forward, keeping my guard up. I jabbed with my right hand and watched as Eiji swayed out of the way, just before my left hand crossed under my arm. Eiji managed to dodge that one too, but it was closer. My right hand whipped back, aiming for a backhand at his cheek. I couldn't let him get _any_ momentum, and as long as he was on the defensive I was okay.

As expected he ducked under the backhand again - and I kept the spin going, translating it into a knee aimed to the head. He jumped back, staggering a few steps before I closed in on him again. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "What do you mean, you know why you can't hit me?"

He talks too much. I snarled and lashed out, aiming for his head. Eiji ducked under the swing, since he was obviously expecting a wider swipe to counter the way he was always swaying out of the way.

Moron.

My feint wasn't _actually_ a punch. Instead, my hand gripped the back of his head and pulled down, forcing his face straight into my rising knee. I let go just as I felt the impact jar my entire body and watched with satisfaction as he reeled backwards. Bright red blood poured from his nose, and I grinned. "You can see the path my swing will take. It's the Augma showing it to you, isn't it?"

"How did you -"

His voice was pleasingly nasal. The smashed nose probably wasn't helping. "Who the hell do you think developed that fighting style, you idiot?" I asked him, my eyes narrowed. "You think you can use Future Step against its rightful owner and _not suffer the consequences?!_ "

"You may be powerful in VR," Eiji snapped, "but this is AR!"

He rushed forward, and I cursed under my breath. I'd gotten mad he stole Future Step and hadn't pressed my advantage, and now he was on the move -!

I tried to counter the grab I expected to come. His hand brushed mine, but before I could get a grip he whipped his arm away from mine. Too fast! He's not reacting fast enough, it's just that his body is moving too quickly for me to keep up. His grab foiled, Eiji dropped to the ground so fast I thought I would see afterimages. His foot lashed out and it was just too fast for me to dodge; the powerful kick knocked _both_ of my legs out from under me and I fell.

I know how to fall correctly, but it didn't matter. Eiji's inhuman speed and strength meant that he caught me by my shirt and slammed me to the ground, chest first. I coughed in pain, fire running through my entire front, and tried to get up. However, I could only get my left hand on the ground before Eiji stomped on it, grinding his heel into my knuckles. A grunt of pain escaped me and I immediately regretted it.

"You think you're so tough, and now look at you," Eiji sneered, one hand on the back of my neck to keep me still.

I grinned, even though my left hand and my everything else hurt. "Still smashed your nose," I said. "I hope I _broke_ it."

"Let's see," Eiji said, completely ignoring me. "You're already wearing your Augma. Excellent."

Suddenly the world flickered. I twitched with shock - unable to do more than that - as Ordinal Scale activated on its own. My clothes changed on their own, even though the world didn't change. "How the f-"

My curse was drowned out by the explosive sound of a boss spawning. My eyes widened as a very, very familiar red carapace skittered out from the circle of fire. "I think you should be familiar with this boss," Eiji sneered into my ear, holding me in place as The Crawlerpede approached. It completely ignored him, and raised its scythe-like arms over its head.

I'm going to kill him.

"Don't look away, now. You need to watch every last second of this."

 _I'm going to kill him._

 _Kill him, kill him, KILL HIM!_

I couldn't look away as the scythe descended and ripped through my side, leaving an incredible burning numbness behind. My health plunged and I snarled, burning my _utter hatred for Eiji_ in my mind. I'll lose my memories but I will remember _I am going to kill him_!

My health hit zero, and a crimson red notification appeared telling me 'Hunter died' and _searing pain ran through my head like the worst pain I'd ever felt and_ -

...My hand twitched as the whiteness receded. My left hand still stung, and the world was back to normal. The ache in my side was gone, leaving only the aches and soreness I knew came from losing a fight. Fuck... That and a killer headache that was... swiftly fading, actually. The pulsing pain throbbed for a few seconds and then disappeared, leaving me perfectly alright.

Gravel crunched behind me. "What?" Eiji exploded. "This can't be right! How did it fail?!"

Far away. Heh. Perfect. I got my hands under me and pushed, ignoring the exhausted muscles. Slowly I forced myself up, turning to face Eiji. He was staring into space, examining something intently. "What's wrong?" I rasped out, earning a surprised jump. "Something failed?"

"You should have forgotten!" he snapped at me.

"The first boss was Illfang The Kobold Lord. A beta tester, Diavel, was the only casualty of the fight." His eyes widened. "Then there was Asterius The Taurus King. No casualties. Nerius The Evil Treant and Wythege The Hippocampus." My smirk widened. "No casualties in either. Look at that, my memories are still intact."

"How...?" he breathed.

I sneered at his surprise. "I know how it works, you idiot. The memory scan. So it only took the memories of how much I _really, really_ want to kill you."

"But you should be terrified!" he snapped. "You nearly died to that boss, how can you _not_ be scared?"

Harsh laughter ripped out of me. "A few things wrong with your estimation," I said, rising from my knees. "One. I'm terrified, yeah. But of losing my memories of the girl I love, not dying. Death holds no fear for me." I can't die. I'm not allowed to die, and so I won't. "And two..." I clenched my fists. My left hand complained and I glanced at my knuckles; there was a red half-moon of skin missing from the middle knuckle. Probably when he stomped on it. "Two," I hissed, "I already killed that thing. If you're trying to scare me, you'll have to try _harder_."

"You're still going to lose," Eiji declared. His smug composure had been rattled, though, and I took that as a personal victory. "This is still AR, and I'm still stronger and faster than you!"

"Hey!" Both of us startled at the unexpected voice - Eiji because it came from behind him, and me because I _recognized_ it. "I've called the cops," Shino said, holding up her phone. "They're on the way here."

What is she _doing_ here? "Hear that, Eiji?" I said with a feral grin. It might be unexpected, but I'm not going to turn down Shino's help. "I bet they'll love to ask you questions about how you injured five men a few days ago."

Eiji glared at me, before shaking his head. "You can't stop me," he said. "No matter how hard you try, I _will_ succeed and make good on my promise!"

I made a rude gesture in his general direction. My legs were feeling a little bit weak, and I wasn't quite sure if I'd be able to fight if he pressed the issue.

After a second of tension, Eiji snorted and turned. He walked towards the entrance to the parking garage, right by Shino, and I prepared myself to dash at him - until he walked right by her, not hesitating. As soon as he was out of sight I relaxed, glad Shino wasn't in any danger. "Nick!" she exclaimed, rushing to me. "Are you okay?"

I gave her a weak grin. "I'm... doing okay, I guess." My legs decided that it was the perfect time for them to take a break and I was barely able to turn my collapse into a semi-graceful sit, even if it was a bit heavy. Shino immediately knelt by my side. "What are you doing here, Shino?"

"Din sent me a message," she said quietly. "He said you were doing something stupid and needed help."

Din, huh? Well... I guess that I should thank him, if he's the one that sent Shino my way. "Don't you have class right now?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow in accusation.

She didn't flinch. "Family emergency," Shino said without hesitation. "The school understood."

...Well okay then. Trying to ignore the warm fuzzy feeling, I continued, "And how did you even get here in time, anyway?"

Shino shrugged. "It wasn't that far from my school," she said. "I walked." Guess I drove further than I expected. "Can you drive? We're going to my apartment, it's closer."

"Should be good," I grunted. I tested my weight carefully as I started to stand up, and then got to my feet. "I should be okay. The headache's gone, and my legs are good."

"Okay," Shino said. She still stayed near me, walking by my side. My first few steps were hesitant, but after a few seconds I settled down and walked normally. "You know how to get there?"

I shrugged. "My phone does my navigating most of the time." Should I know how to drive to her apartment? Probably. Did I? Pfft, no. I was good once I was on a road I recognized, but other than that I was absolutely helpless. Shino shook her head with a soft smile either way.

Getting to her apartment wasn't too hard; still, though, the drive time gave my muscles just enough time to stiffen up. What was worse, the raw skin on my left hand was starting to sting a _hell_ of a lot, making it difficult to close my left hand. I didn't get into an accident, but I wasn't exactly driving at my top speeds. As soon as we stepped inside and took our shoes off, Shino gave me a firm stare. "Sit on the bed," she ordered me.

I obeyed, naturally. Shino disappeared into the bathroom and returned a few seconds later. "What's with the box?" I asked her.

"First aid kit," she said. "Now take your shirt off, I'm making sure you're not hurt."

I would have protested, but her no-nonsense tone meant there was pretty much zero chance of me convincing her to sway her course. "Alright, fine," I said. "Uh... The only injuries I know of are my left hand and my stomach, those are the only two places he hit me. Other than that... He pinned me on my stomach."

Shino studied me carefully, occasionally asking me to turn around. I did so without question, enjoying the care even if it wasn't strictly necessary. "Looks like it's only your hand," she said finally. I would have normally just left something like that to heal on its own - it'd scab in a few days and then be insufferably irritating for a week or two - but I watched quietly as she applied the antiseptic cream and bandage.

"Thanks, Shino," I murmured quietly, flexing my hand to check for mobility. There was a little resistance, but I think I was going to be okay. "But that was dangerous, showing up there."

"Like going after that guy in the first place wasn't?" she asked archly. I ducked my head, suitably chastised. Shino's lips curved in a small smile. "So, the next boss fight, where is it?"

"Huh?" The question threw me for a loop until I realized exactly what she was asking. "No. No, Shino, I'm not letting you do that and put yourself at risk. Kazuto already told you what happened to Asuna, I know he did."

Shino grinned at me. "So? I'm not an SAO Survivor, so I should be fine, right?"

I sighed. "That's... I don't think that's how that works..."

"Well, Din?" I blinked in surprise and tapped my Augma to turn it on. I looked once my vision cleared, and sure enough, Din was sitting on Shino's shoulder.

He nodded. "I don't _think_ you should be affected, Aunt Shino," he said seriously. "The scan was targeting SAO data only, so you should be safe."

I grimaced, and Shino grinned at me. "I don't want to take you," I said with a sigh. "I don't want you at risk, even if it's less than one percent."

She shook her head. "I'm going to go with or without you," she told me. I knew she _would_. I just didn't want to be the one to bring her. "After all, you can't tell me Kazuto's not going, right?" I sighed and looked away. "That's what I thought. Hey, it'll be okay, you know?" I felt her lean against my back, the two of us resting against each other. "I'll have you there to look out for me. And I know you won't let anything hurt me."

"Hah..." I tilted my head back, staring at the ceiling. After a second, I glanced at Shino, smiling ruefully. "You're certainly troublesome, my dear little sister."

"Only because you're so much trouble yourself, big brother," Shino replied.

I grinned at her and she grinned back. For a second, everything was peaceful...

...Until Din flew up in front of me. "Dad, no cheating on Mom," he scolded me.

Immediately, Shino blushed and both of us jerked away from each other. "That... wasn't what we were doing, kid," I said. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to look at Shino. My ears felt hot. "Anyway, uh... I guess I'll just hang out here for a few hours, until it's time for the event."

"Yeah, that works," Shino said after a second. Then she coughed. "Takeout for dinner?"

"...I can cook something if you want."

"Sure, whatever works."

...Thanks, Din. Now everything's _awkward_.

* * *

Dinner was a little bit more extravagant than I'd intended, but it was understandable that I wanted to show off. After all, I was cooking for more than just myself this time. Still, it was just a simple pasta dish - cooked chicken breast, some of the tube pasta, and an alfredo sauce - so nothing _too_ expensive. Shino seemed to like it, though, and I was glad that I'd cooked a little bit extra. Leftovers for her tomorrow, I guess.

After we both ate, I checked with Din for the location of the next boss spawn. When I asked, though, he hesitated. "What's wrong, kid?" I asked him.

"...Nothing," he said. Was he still sulking about the misunderstanding earlier? Except he'd seemed fine later, when I went out with Shino to do the grocery shopping for dinner... "It'll be here," he said, pulling up the map and pointing. A blue circle popped up, and a few seconds later my phone buzzed. "I sent the coordinates to your phone."

"Thanks, Din," I said. "And... Thanks for calling Shino to help."

Shino tapped my shoulder, and I turned to see that she'd changed out of her school uniform and into casual clothes. Sneakers and dark blue pants, as well as a collared white shirt. It looked much easier to move around in, especially with the light blue sweater she was wearing. "Ready to go," she told me.

I ran through a quick pocket check before nodding. "Let's head out," I said. I still wasn't thrilled that Shino was coming with me, my protective instincts rising up at the thought that she could get hurt fighting, but I'd already caved once. I had less than no leg to stand on in this situation.

We left the house, Shino making sure to lock up and test the doorknob a few times before she was satisfied it was secure. I just waited patiently; I knew that it was automatic for her at this point. Ever since Death Gun broke into her house... After getting on the bike, I hesitated before turning it on.

"What's up?" Shino asked. "Trying to figure out how to pay me back for saving you earlier?"

I blinked and made up my mind. I'll just… make sure she's safe. "I'll treat you to some ice cream on the way home, okay? You mercenary."

Shino laughed cheerfully. The sound made her whole face light up, and I smiled despite myself. "Sure, but I'm gonna eat a lot."

"You've already eaten half my wallet for dinner," I grumbled.

"I paid for half of it!"

"Yeah, yeah..."

Thanks to Din's accidental accusation earlier, I was strangely aware of Shino's arms around my waist as I drove. It wasn't bad, or unpleasant or anything, but it did mean I was a little more distracted than I would have liked. Shino didn't seem to notice, fortunately, and I got us to the boss spawn area without incident.

After parking the bike I stepped up next to Shino. "Sure you want to do this?" I asked her.

She glanced at me, raising an eyebrow. Somehow, her glasses made her stare seem even flatter than usual. It's a neat trick, I want to see her do that more often. "Do you really think I'd back down now?"

I chuckled. "No, not really. Just one last check, to be safe." She smiled and gently punched my shoulder. "Hey, watch it, I'm injured here."

"No you're not." Okay, fine, so I'm not. My hand hurts, but that's something I can ignore. I deny pouting at her in irritation. "Stop that, you look ridiculous." I also deny looking ridiculous while pouting at her, especially since I deny pouting at her.

Since we were both certain we were going to find Kazuto at this event - probably for the same reason I tracked down Eiji, to figure out what he did to Asuna and how to fix it - Shino and I decided to search for him in the time we had before the fight started, which was why we showed up a little bit ahead of time. The number of players that showed up to these events was pretty static; the shifting spawn zones meant that attending was roughly a coin flip for players that didn't crack the code thanks to ridiculously advanced and brilliant AI children: 'Can I make it to the fight in a half hour?'

Basically, that meant that even though I didn't recognize anybody, there weren't that many people to look at until we finally spotted Kazuto. Well, Shino spotted him; that girl and her eyesight, I swear... "There he is," she said to me, before walking forward. I just followed in her shadow like normal. "Well, well, look who it is," she called, moving through the assembled players like she knew they'd get out of our way. Which, to be fair, they did.

In front of us, Kazuto and Yui turned to look our way; they'd been talking when Shino called out. As we approached, his eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?" he half-asked, half-sighed. "Nick, why is she here?"

I spread my arms and shook my head, silently saying 'Don't ask me'. "Why are _you_ here?" Shino replied, turning the question around. "You just told everyone not to fight the bosses, and here you are."

"I know... but it really is dangerous," Kazuto said. "If a boss kills you, you'll lose your memory, like Asuna."

"You're sounding like Nick," Shino said with a smile. "I'll be fine. I don't have those memories to scan, so I'll be fine. Nothing's going to happen to me, Din said so. We can have Yui confirm it, if you want."

Yui floated over and landed on Kazuto's shoulder. Din was already riding on mine. "Yes, you should be safe," the little Nav Pixie said. "I think..."

"Yeah," Kazuto said, "but we don't know-"

"Nick's here with me," she said, planting a hand on her hip and grinning. "You know he'll keep me safe."

Kazuto blinked, before looking at me. "And what's _your_ excuse for being here?" he asked me.

I shrugged. "I'm safe. You don't need to worry about me." I knew how to protect myself from the memory loss, after all. Just focus on how much I hate and despise Eiji, even if the thoughts right now are purely academic. I'm certain that if I need to, I can fill myself with hate and fury at a moment's notice. "I tracked down Eiji this afternoon." Kazuto's eyes widened, and then narrowed again. "I fought him and lost."

"You lost?" he asked.

"Yeah," I sighed. "Cheating cheater that cheats. Still, I managed to do some damage, so it's not like I walked away without getting my own back. His nose was probably broken."

Kazuto cupped his chin with a hand. "That explains why I can't find him here," he mused.

I nodded. "He pinned me, and a boss appeared. Field Boss from Floor 26." Kazuto winced. "Even though it killed me, I didn't lose my memories of SAO. I focused on something else and it scanned that instead." After all, it's not like I'm actually afraid of dying, I'm just afraid of losing Kana and my family, and that's not limited to SAO, so I could -

...Why is Yui full-sized and hugging me? "Uncle, did you get hurt?" she asked.

"...Nothing permanent," I said with a soft smile, patting her head gently. She looked up, big eyes gazing at me, and I carefully hugged her back. "Shino rode to my rescue before anything escalated too far."

Kazuto looked like he was about to ask me something, but flashes of light around us signaled that it was time for us to suit up. There wasn't any time to waste, and I let Yui go. She transformed back to her ALO Pixie form and flew into the sky, Din lifting off my shoulder to join her a second later. I exchanged a quick nod and grin with Shino and Kazuto before the three of us dug out the wand needed for Ordinal Scale.

"Ordinal Scale, activate," the three of us said together.

Let's do this.

* * *

 **Nick is… not exactly the most mentally healthy person. When a scan designed to evoke traumatizing memories just makes you RAGE, that's not normal.**

 **Remember, this story takes place before Viper's Bite/Kiss, so he hasn't gone through any of the character development in that story; he's still more than willing to kill someone even if it's not the best option. I think it's probably exactly what he'd do if confronted with Eiji hurting Asuna at this point in time, even if it's not exactly all that smart. Still, it kinda worked out. For a certain definition.**

 **Nick versus Eiji was something I knew I was including in the story ever since I saw the movie and watched him break Klein's arm. The only question was when, exactly, and what would the outcome be. This was the compromise; he talks to Klein, hears how Eiji's the one that hurt him, and decides that it's his fault Asuna got hurt.**

 **Thanks to Eiji's lifehacks, Nick got his ass handed to him and would a hundred percent have gotten his arm broken if Shino hadn't appeared. He still gave Eiji a bloody nose (I'm on the fence whether it's broken or just bloodied… Probably bloody, Nick's knee struck low, around the mouth, and he's not really trained in throwing knee strikes) as a punishment for using Future Step against him. The idiot.**

 **I'll be honest, Din showing up in the scene with Shino and accusing Nick of cheating wasn't intended. However, he just decided to show up and I shrugged and said sure. It was a nice callback to earlier in the chapter – even if originally it was going to be a callback to** _ **last**_ **chapter. A shame.**


	5. Bridge

**Bridge**

* * *

"Ordinal Scale, activate," the three of us said together. The usual flash of light enveloped us, blinding me for a split second before it faded away. We were all clad in our Ordinal Scale equipment, ready for battle. Above us, Din and Yui hovered in the air, talking quietly together.

Just in time, too. The clock hit nine and the world rippled as it was replaced by AR. The stage this time reminded me of an old, desolate ship graveyard - where only the ribs and remains of ships were left. The floor was stone but patterned like it was individual chunks of wood, and in the distance I could see the remnants of a massive ship. The sky was clouded, with sunlight just barely filtering through. The 'TDM stg'. A circle appeared up near a large, almost organic wreck with chains stretching out in the sky, and a pillar of fire rose. A shape appeared, and...

My eyes widened. "That's Dire Tusk," Kirito exclaimed. "The boss from Floor 18!" Instead of the next boss in the pattern, we were facing down a massive green creature with a red beard that looked like the upper body and head of a muscular orc mixed with the lower body, arms, and tail of a raptor. A metal collar was around its neck, and I knew that there would be a chain leading to the wall behind him. "What happened to Floor 13's boss?"

"I just checked!" Yui said. "And a total of ten bosses have appeared at different locations across the city!"

"They're pulling out all the stops tonight," Sinon murmured. It felt weird to think of her as Sinon, while she still had Shino's hair color.

"The admins shuffled the locations around," Din reported. "Even though this lines up with a dungeon on Floor 13, Dire Tusk spawned."

I grimaced. "I hate when they change the rules."

Kirito was going to say something when a player nearby said, "Crap, that's Dire Tusk, alright." I flinched and looked over; I didn't recognize the player, but if he recognized the boss, then that meant he was from Aincrad. "C'mon, let's go." He and his friends ran forward. Kirito twitched as if he was going to chase after them, but Sinon rested a hand on his shoulder. He glanced at her, and relaxed.

Up at the front, the timer started - but Yuna didn't appear to this fight. Maybe she was at one of the others? I don't know. But either way, it didn't matter because Dire Tusk didn't wait for us to figure out what was going on.

With a roar and the clank of chains, Dire Tusk leaned forward and started charging, each step of its lizard-like legs smashing a hole in the floor. Players dove out of the way, too afraid of the charge to counter it. After several stops, the boss jerked to a halt as its chain pulled taut, nearly strangling it. Sure enough, the boss's choker chain was embedded in the wall, keeping it from having free roam. Dire Tusk screeched, flailing its arms at a player that had fallen back.

Sinon took aim and fired, a green projectile streaking forward. It smashed into Dire Tusk's shoulder and knocked it backwards; with the force of the blow, Dire Tusk actually spun in place as it crashed to the ground. This thing's legs were small compared to its body, so it was easy to knock down.

"It's going to be winding up for a punish," I said. Dire Tusk might have been chained at the beginning, but that was only until the first health bar was depleted; since this game didn't have multiple health bars to the bosses, it would be roughly at a fifth of its health. The other players didn't know that, and rushed in.

"Then let's light 'em up!" Sinon replied without missing a beat, her sniper rifle barking again as she shot Dire Tusk. More ranged specialists joined the fight, their machine guns and rifles chattering away.

With the combination of gunfire, Sinon's sniper rifle picking out weak points, and the players slashing just outside of Dire Tusk's range, it didn't take long to reach the turning point. Dire Tusk turned tail and retreated, running back to where its chain was embedded in the wall. Despite getting shot, the bullets peppering its unprotected back, Dire Tusk didn't turn to us. Here we go...

"Awesome!" some swordsman cheered, running in with his friend as Dire Tusk tugged on the chain in the wall. "He's like a sitting duck!"

Shit. "No, get away!" Kirito shouted as he and I rushed forward to intercept their charge.

With a roar, Dire Tusk's huge shoulders bulged and it turned. The chain finally broke out of the wall, revealing what it was hiding - a massive, red-bladed axe head attached to the chain, hidden in the concrete. Dire Tusk whipped the chain forward and launched the axe head forward on a direct course, straight for the pair of players that were charging it. One jumped out of the way and Kirito shoulder-checked the other one to the side, knocking both of them down; my eyes widened and I screeched to a halt, nearly toppling over as the chain whipped by my face. The axe smashed into the ground and ripped through it, gouging a path through the wooden lower floor and even through the stone stairs. I saw Sinon jump and roll to the side, and I let out a hiss of relief.

Dire Tusk pulled back on the chain and the axe head returned to it. As the smoke from the attack cleared, I could see that it hadn't been without casualties; the player that had recognized Dire Tusk had taken a hit almost directly to the torso. "Oh crap!" Kirito shouted, lurching to his feet.

Before he could move, Dire Tusk caught the axe and turned its head, pinning Kirito with its red eyes. He froze, staring at the boss, and then dove to the side as Dire Tusk smashed at him with the axe. It crashed into the ground, and Dire Tusk yanked it back out to strike at Kirito again. I took the chance as Kirito parried the blow, sparks flying, to move in and start some bladework, my dagger biting into the boss's unprotected stomach and legs. The blows weren't deep, and my dagger wasn't long enough to properly sever a limb, but it still did damage, leaving the red marks behind. Grimacing, I shifted hands and flexed my left fist; the scrapes and injuries from earlier protested. It was moving slowly, and clenching a fist hurt, but I could survive.

Dire Tusk screeched after a particularly nasty slice - it cut near the base of the tail, one of the boss's weak points - and whirled on me. I grinned fiercely, not intimidated in the slightest as it started to rear back to smash that heavy axe into _my_ face instead; the boss was right-handed and I was left, so I was always at an advantage in movement. All I had to do was lunge to the side and spin with the momentum, clearing myself out of the danger zone and setting up for a perfect punch. My knuckles impacted with the boss's knee, backward jointed just like a raptor, and it buckled. Kirito stepped in and slashed upwards, cutting into the boss's arm.

As we jumped back, gaining distance, the players that had already been defeated cheered from the sidelines, urging us to kick the boss's ass and 'finish him off!'. I spared them a glance, but no more than that; I could barely see, thanks to the cloud of dust and smoke that rose up from each of Dire Tusk's attacks. Dire Tusk roared and raised its left hand, the extraneous chain wrapping around its wrist. My eyes narrowed and I crouched slightly; the ranged attacks would stop, but the boss itself would gain mobility.

Sure enough, Dire Tusk's first attack was a jump high in the air so that it could slam its axe down on a tank covering himself with a tower shield nearby. The boss cleared a lot of ground, more than the victim expected, and slammed its axe down - just in front of him, making a crater and forcing the armored man back.

With a growling shout, Kirito rushed in. His sword clashed against the boss's axe and then flicked back to the right to block Dire Tusk's punch, then again to the left to counter Dire Tusk's axe attack. Kirito growled and swiped at the boss with his blade, but it jumped back away from the edge.

"Pace yourself!" Sinon shouted. I glanced over to see where she was going, to see her running along the edge of the wooden section, carrying her rifle. Kirito didn't seem to give her any reply, he just bulled forward again, fighting like a mad dog.

He charged straight into a heavy down smash from Dire Tusk that crashed into the ground, a shockwave fanning out in a cone behind Kirito. I winced but didn't miss the opening, digging my dagger into the boss's ribs. About where the kidney would be, if the boss were a human scaled to size.

Dire Tusk let out a roar and the dust cleared just enough that I could see Kirito was okay, glaring up at the boss. His eyes were filled with desperate rage and I gritted my teeth; I recognized that look, back from when we were trying to rescue Asuna from the World Tree. It was the face he made when he made the first suicidal attempt against the Guardians.

The chain around Dire Tusk's hand began to unwrap and I realized I needed to _move_. I immediately started hurrying backwards, keeping my eyes on the boss while I backpedaled. The chain around the boss's wrist started to unwrap and lash around, until it smashed into the nearby ground, nearly killing two players. A tornado of wind and metal links started expanding as the Dire Tusk unleashed its near-death move. Occasionally, individual links lashed out and smashed a section of the ground before bouncing back into the whirlwind. I moved around until I could see Kirito; he'd been unable to get away from the attack in time and was blocking the attack desperately, holding the flat of the blade in front of him. Links kept bouncing off of the blade, orange sparks flying out.

I couldn't remember exactly how we handled the boss in Aincrad, but it didn't matter; we had options in Ordinal Scale that didn't exist back then. "Sinon!" I shouted.

The bark of a rifle answered me. Sinon's powerful shot rocketed forward, splitting the dust around where she'd been standing, and smashed into Dire Tusk's chain. The links shattered, flying everywhere and leaving the boss with just a few links attached to its axe. Naturally, the near-death move ended, Kirito still alive. He fell to one knee from the effort as Dire Tusk reeled from Sinon's blast.

Slowly, he got to his feet and started running forward, moving unsteadily at first. After a second, though, he found his balance and started sprinting at the boss. Another of Sinon's rifle shots glanced off of the Dire Tusk's collar, and I clicked my tongue in irritation. Even as I closed in to assist Kirito, Dire Tusk planted one foot on the ground - cracking the wooden floor - and swung its axe at him.

Sinon's rifle barked again, this time hitting exactly where she wanted it to - the beast's eye. It lurched to the side and the boss's axe cracked the ground right next to Kirito. He was unharmed from the strike. With a shout, Kirito burst from the smoke and dug his sword into Dire Tusk's right arm, dragging the blade forward as he ran. The strike ran along Dire Tusk's entire body until it swung free, scoring a slash across the leg. Kirito fell forward with the sudden loss of resistance and tumbled into a sitting position. Dire Tusk froze, motionless, and abruptly expanded -

\- before it exploded in a spray of light and multi-colored glittering lights that rushed outwards with a deep basso rumble. The confetti paused, hanging in the air in a perfect half-sphere, before it all rushed back in to the center. It imploded on itself and a small little puff of confetti sprinkled down, disappearing before they touched the ground. Panting, I glanced at the clock: only thirty seconds left.

As the stage faded away, revealing the real world again, Kirito stood up and sheathed his sword on his back. "He didn't show up tonight," he muttered.

"Probably because I smashed his nose in, like I said earlier," I said as I approached him. "By the way, Kirito." He looked over at me, just as I grabbed his shoulder firmly, just barely not tight enough to hurt. "You need to _calm_ _down_ ," I told him. "I know you're upset. I love Asuna too. But you won't help her if you charge recklessly into danger and get yourself killed like you would have been if Sinon hadn't pulled your ass out of the fire. Got it?"

Kirito's eyes widened for a second, before he sighed and grinned at me. The desperation in his eyes was still there, but it was small. "Sorry, Rythin. Guess I got caught up in things, huh?"

"A little bit," I nodded as I let go.

I heard footsteps behind me, and I turned to see Sinon approaching the two of us, rifle in hand. "Nice one," she said with a smile.

"Yeah," Kirito said. "Thanks to you."

"Take me out for cake and we'll call it even," Sinon said. I blinked, and then grinned faintly.

Kirito glanced to the side, checking his rewards. "How about a coupon for a free beef bowl instead?" Oh, you dense idiot. Though, to be fair, I'm pretty sure he's playing dense on purpose. Either that or he just has eyes for Asuna.

Sinon's eyes went flat with exasperation. "Do I _look_ like I want a beef bowl?" she asked. " _Nick_ offered to buy me ice cream, cheapskate."

I rolled my eyes. "I think I was volun _told_ to buy you ice cream, sweetheart." Sinon huffed playfully, pretending to be irritated.

"Yuna?" Kirito suddenly breathed. He was staring off into the distance, and I blinked at him before turning to see what he was looking at. It was... that girl, from before, the one with red eyes and wearing a hoodie that covered her face. She turned to look at Kirito...

...and her hood fell back, exposing her face. She looked exactly like Yuna.

"Hey, wait!" Kirito exclaimed, breaking into a sprint. Beside me, Sinon blinked in surprise, and I swore under my breath before chasing after him.

I caught up with Kazuto just as he stopped in the middle of the street. Judging by how he wasn't shouting at anyone, and there wasn't the world's best Yuna cosplayer ghost in sight, I made the excellent deduction that she'd disappeared again. "Lost her, huh," I noted neutrally as I stopped next to him.

"Yeah," he muttered. "Who _is_ she, and why does she look like..."

From above, Yui and Din swooped down to hover around head-height. "I'm sorry, Daddy," Yui said. "We were following a clue, but we got blocked by a firewall. During the battle just now, I found out that a mysterious program activated, right when an SAO Survivor took on critical damage from the boss."

I looked over at movement in the corner of my eye, but it was Shino, walking towards the two of us. "Son of a..." Kazuto muttered, before he turned and headed down the steps. I blinked in surprise as he slammed his fist into the glass pane of the vending machine in front of him. "Rrgh!" he grunted. Yeah, that's probably got to hurt. Shino stopped next to me, watching Kazuto silently. He glanced over. "Hey, wanna drink?"

Shino shook her head silently, and he sighed. While he opened up an Augma reward and selected his free drink, I glanced at Din and Yui. "What did Kazuto have you looking for, Yui?"

"Any clue that could inform us what was going on," she replied promptly. "I got blocked, though."

Kazuto knelt down and reached for the coffee from the vending machine, before he froze. I tilted my head curiously, and was about to say something when he stood up abruptly. "Of course!" he said. "Yui, that girl in the hoodie. Do you know which direction she pointed each time we saw her?"

"Yes! I have the coordinates."

My eyes lit up. "Oh, I get it," I said. "Triangulation, so we can see where she was pointing. Good idea."

Kazuto nodded at me, before turning to Yui. "Okay," he said. "Bring up a map of Tokyo and show me where they all lead."

Shino and I joined him by the vending machine, and an orange light rippled before expanding outwards, revealing a map of the city with roads, rivers, and train lines all drawn in. There were a few other common locations marked, like major shopping centers and the spawn areas of the bosses we'd faced over the last few days. "This is familiar," I murmured to Shino. "Now all we need to do is try to figure out which one is Death Gun."

"Don't even joke about that," she muttered, swatting my arm. She was still grinning, though, so I took it as a victory nonetheless.

After the compass ring appeared around the map, pointing which direction was north, three red circles appeared one by one. A line extended out from each - that would be the direction the ghost was pointing when we saw her. Three circles, then... So Kazuto ran into her once between the first time we saw her and now? Interesting. I wonder why she keeps appearing in front of him.

The three lines intersected - which, I mean, we could technically have done this with only two lines as long as Kazuto encountered her in two different locations, but... - and Shino breathed, "They criss-cross!" The center of the intersection expanded, filling the entire circle with a close view of the area. Every building was faithfully recreated with orange wireframe. "In Okayama!"

The red circle of the three lines' intersection shrank until it was hovering over a small cluster of buildings. They were all connected, and there was a small area without any buildings just to the... southwest. "You know what that building is, Yui?"

"That's where the Toto Institute of Technology is!" Yui replied.

I blinked, tilting my head as I thought. I'd heard that name recently, but where... "Why does she want me to look there?" Kazuto wondered out loud.

"I'll see if there's any link between Eiji and the institute," Din said. "Give me a second..." A series of pictures rose in a column around us, but I didn't really see them. My tongue flicked out over my lips and I let my eyes unfocus, playing back the most recent events -

"The Augma!" I said abruptly, making both Shino and Kazuto jump a little. "The inventor, Shigemura, he has a lecture there. Kazuto, you showed it to me a few days ago, that's where I recognize the name from."

"Shigemura..." Kazuto said, before raising a picture closer. "This is him, right?"

Yui floated over to look. I did the same, without the floating part. "Yes, that's Professor Tetsuhiro Shigemura. Like Uncle said, he designed the Augma."

"He did, huh..." Kazuto murmured.

Shino wormed her way between me and Kazuto. "And look who it is," she said, pointing at the picture. It was a picture of Shigemura and several of his students, all posing for a group picture; I wasn't sure the purpose. But that didn't matter - what Shino had pointed to was a little bit more interesting. Namely, the appearance of Eiji in one of the photos. The photo of him looked identical to how he looked now, so it had to have been taken after Aincrad...

I looked at Kazuto. "Something tells me," I said, "that we're going to need to have a conversation with the professor."

...

I killed the engine on my bike and rested on one leg, balancing the weight carefully as my passenger climbed off. "Thanks for the ice cream," Shino said, smiling at me like she hadn't just put my wallet on a strict no-cash diet.

I gave Shino a flat stare, and then took off my helmet so that she could actually see me giving her a flat stare. "You ate way too much."

"You shouldn't say that to a girl," she replied, unfazed. I guess she's developed a resistance to my glares. "What would Kana think?"

"That you ate too much," I grumbled.

Shino grinned, laughing a little bit, before she paused and rested a hand on my arm. "Nick, you should talk to Kana tomorrow," she said. I hesitated, not quite sure where she was going with this. "Tell her what happened, okay? I know it'll help."

I couldn't help it, I let out a little chuckle of my own. "Look at you, worrying about me," I said. "I thought I was the one that was supposed to protect you, huh?"

Shino smiled, toying with one of the pigtails framing her face. "It's a little sister's job to keep an eye out for her big brother, isn't it?"

She waved to me as I pulled away, her words ringing in my head. I should talk to Kana? Well... I guess I should take her advice. It seems like once again, she's helped me out...

Man, I owe her a lot, huh. Maybe the ice cream was just a step on paying her back.

I headed home, but instead of getting changed I wrote a quick note to my parent and left it on the table before grabbing my overnight bag and tossing in a change of clothes and everything I'd need to spend the night at Kana's house. It was something routine by this point, and Kana and I had floated the idea of just leaving a few changes of clothing at each other's house for events like this, but we hadn't actually gotten around to setting that up yet.

Plus, I don't really want to think about what Kana would do if she could dress me up at her house _and_ mine.

Kana was already waiting for me at the front door when I arrived at her house - I'd messaged her when I was about five minutes away, since I was walking instead of taking my bike. "Hey, Nick," she said. "How did the fight go?"

I shook my head as I entered and took off my shoes. "You already know, huh?"

"Shino told me."

I sighed and shook my head at Kana's easy response. "Then why ask me, catling?"

"Nya hah hah," Kana laughed. "Because I like hearing my boyfriend brag, obviously." I shook my head again, my lips twitching. Kana snickered at my expression for a few seconds, before lightly wrapping her arms around me. I was standing in the hall, so her face was pressing into the middle of my back. "It's rare for you to come over on your own," she murmured into my back.

I didn't reply for a while, luxuriating in the familiar sensation of her arms and her warmth. This. This was real. I'd remember this, even if my memories of SAO were taken from me by Eiji and Ordinal Scale. I'd remember how much I love her, I'd remember how much I love all of my family and friends. Everything that's important, is still here with me in the real world. "I guess," I said finally, "I wanted to sleep with you tonight."

Kana stilled against my back, before she giggled. "I don't think you meant that the way it sounded," she said.

How it sounded? All I said was that I wanted to - oh. Oh. "Yeah, no, that came out wrong," I said, feeling my cheeks get hot. "I talked with Shino earlier, and she told me to talk to you about some stuff."

"Shino's a smart girl, you should listen to her more often."

We migrated up to Kana's room, stopping just long enough to say hello to Kana's dad and let him know that I'd be staying the night. I sat on her bed and she sat in front of me, happily resting against my chest while I told her about the events of the day so far. Even when I talked about Eiji, how I chased him down and risked losing memories just to have a chance at saving Asuna, she didn't complain or scold me. She just sighed and leaned back, making sure that we stayed in contact the whole time.

In the end, after I was finished, Kana sat silently in my arms, and I rested my head on her shoulder without saying a word. "I'm glad you're okay," she said finally. "But that was really, really stupid of you."

"I know."

Her hands crept up and clutched at my own, placing her small, cool hands on top of mine. "We're going on a date tomorrow afternoon," she said. There wasn't any room to argue. "And it's going to be so much fun that there's no way either of us could ever forget it."

I realized, with a sudden rush, that my own close brush with Eiji had blinded me from seeing it: Kana was just as terrified of losing her memories of Aincrad as Kazuto and Asuna were. "Yeah," I murmured. "Sure. As soon as I get back from my thing with Kazuto, we'll go out for the rest of the day."

Even if I wasn't already going to track down Eiji and beat him within an inch of his life for daring to hurt Asuna, I would do it to stop him from hurting Kana.

* * *

"Based on the evidence, the most glaring flaw of the Full Dive VR device is the Full Dive function itself."

The classroom was packed full of students, every one of them listening intently to the lecturer. There had to be at least a hundred people. Each one wore an Augma, and every Augma displayed the same three screens in front of the students; something that, judging by the way it scrolled and the text-heavy nature of the document, was a transcript of the lecture, as well as two other panels for use in asking questions and making comments.

Up at the front of the lecture hall of Toto Institute of Technology, a man stood at the head of the podium. He, too, was wearing an Augma, and the holographic projections behind him were courtesy of that. One looked like a still from an Augma commercial - the guy dressed in full mountaineering costume indoors, for whatever reason. Wouldn't he get hot? - and the rest were all various splash screens and advertising images. There were also a few images showing side-by-side comparisons of the AR and VR devices.

"When a person has to sever their physical senses to play a VR game," Professor Shigemura said, his voice ringing out through the hall thanks to the aid of the mic on the desk, "that person is taking on incalculable risks to their health. True," he said, "Full Dive tech _has_ been applied to activities other than gaming, such as communication, browsing, digital production. But none of those activities require all of one's senses. Sight, sound, and limited tactile information are enough. So, instead of using a dangerous Full Dive device," he said, "one should use an AR device, which has been proven to be safe and stable."

I snorted quietly, folding my arms. Uh huh. Sure. And I'm sure you're not biased at all, Mr. I created the Augma.

Kazuto and I were sitting in on the lecture for a chance to speak with Shigemura once he was finished lecturing. Normally, we wouldn't be allowed in - it was a college, after all, and we weren't students - but thanks to Kazuto calling in a favor from Kikuoka, we were able to listen.

Shigemura checked his watch, and then looked up. I shifted in my seat, a little glad that the lecture was almost over. "Are there any questions on what we've covered so far?" he asked. Next to me, Kazuto raised his hand; he was wearing an orange shirt, which kinda stood out. I glanced down at my own, perfectly normal grey shirt. Okay, fine, so maybe I don't have Kazuto's natural attractiveness, but that's not important. "Yes, you there," Shigemura said, pointing at him.

Kazuto stood up, attracting the attention of the nearby students. "Professor," he began. "Would you say that AR devices have certain risks that VR devices don't? And if so, what are your thoughts on that?"

"Yes, well, are you talking about traffic accidents, while wearing an AR device?" Shigemura replied.

"No," Kazuto replied. "I'm talking about risks like permanently altering and damaging the user's perception of reality. Full Dive tech just makes a virtual world _seem_ like reality. But AR tech alters reality itself. Don't you think _that's_ dangerous?"

A current of discussion broke out among the students in the class, and I subtly tried to duck my head. Damn it, Kazuto, why didn't we just go up and talk to the guy before the lecture started like I wanted? This would be so much easier... "I'll answer that question next time," Shigemura replied finally. "Class dismissed."

As soon as he said those words the conversations that had been whispered rose in volume to full force. Up front, the lights turned on and the screens behind Professor Shigemura disappeared. I glanced at Kazuto as I stood up with the rest of the students, watching him carefully. His arms were on the desk and he was leaning forward, staring at Shigemura. "C'mon," I said to him. "We have an appointment with him, you can bring up your grudges then."

Kazuto shook himself and his stance softened. "Yeah, you're right," he said.

The two of us made our way through the crowd of rapidly fleeing college students, going with the flow more than anything. I glanced back just before I left the lecture hall; down at the podium, Shigemura was fielding questions from other students that weren't asked thanks to Kazuto's little bomb. Once we were out in the hall, Kazuto and I started searching for Shigemura's office. "E606," I murmured, staring at the nearby signs. "I think it's that way, then?"

Through trial, error, and the occasional double-back, we finally found the office. The door was closed, but it only took a few minutes for Shigemura to reach us. Introductions were exchanged, naturally, and he ushered us inside his office. It was larger than I expected, and a little neater. All of Shigemura's books were stored on a bookshelf along the left side of the wall, standing next to a set of filing cabinets and boxes of papers on another set of shelves. By the door there was a whiteboard with math equations scribbled on it, and a box of robot parts sitting next to the wall. On the right side of the room, there were a few cabinets and drawers, with a sink and some bottles.

Shigemura's desk was sitting in the back of the room, right by the large window. There weren't many papers sitting on the desk, just a laptop and what looked like a framed picture. In the center of the room, there was a couch on one side of a coffee table, and two chairs on the other. Shigemura gestured for us to sit down on the couch, and we did so; he took a seat on one of the chairs, facing us.

"I'll cut to the chase," Kazuto said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a copy of the picture we'd seen last night. He laid it on the table in front of us. "Do you know someone called Eiji? He's the second-ranked player in Ordinal Scale."

Shigemura glanced at the picture. "No," he said. He almost sounded confused, like he wasn't sure where Kazuto was going with this.

"He was in your class, though," I said. Din had looked up the information available online to the public. "And in your lab."

"I've had many students over the years," Shigemura sighed.

I licked my lips and breathed out through my nose. "Okay," Kazuto said, "let's try a different question. Did you know that the Augma is causing SAO Survivors to lose their memories?" Shigemura blinked. "Did you know that the Augma has a feature users don't know about? A feature that scans their brain while they're wearing it?"

Shigemura, instead of answering, just sighed. From here, I could see how old he was; his face was thin, and there were a few streaks of white along his temples. The rest of his hair was still black, but starting to go grey. "I didn't know I was going to be interrogated," he replied. "Kikuoka told me you two just wanted to audit my class."

"If the Augma does have a dangerous feature built in," Kazuto said, "it won't be long before it's found out."

I tilted my head. "And the problem with that is," I said, "once it's discovered, it won't take long for the Augma to be banned, just like the NerveGear. How ironic. The teacher, ending up exactly like one of his old students. Just like Akihiko Kayaba."

Shigemura didn't react to the knowledge Kazuto and I held, which was admittedly a little bit of a disappointment. It was our trump card, to see if he knew anything about the Augma's hidden function. The information was buried somewhat, but that wasn't a barrier to Din and Yui - they managed to dig up everything about the old Shigemura labs students. There were three of them in total: Akihiko Kayaba, the most infamous of the three; that sack of dogshit Nobuyuki Sugou; and then some guy that fell off the map named Takeru Higa.

Tsk. A shame that it hadn't rattled his composure. We could have learned something either way, if it had. Oh well.

After a second, he closed his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about," he sighed. Then he opened his eyes and looked at us. "But let's say the Augma has this brain scanning function you described. Why is it bad if someone forgets about SAO? In the words of Nietzsche, 'Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better even of their blunders.' So now ask yourselves, do you think those Survivors _want_ to remember their horrifying past?"

I exploded from my seat, snarling. A copper taste tickled the back of my throat. "That's my _sister that lo_ _ **st her memory**_ , **you** -"

I was a heartbeat away from flipping the coffee table, damn how heavy it was, and flat-out threatening Shigemura until he told us everything we wanted to know when Kazuto's hand closed around my wrist. I jolted in surprise, choking off my furious shout before I got myself in hot water. His eyes were wide and shaken, and I realized that even with his reflexes, he wouldn't have had time to catch me after I moved. He must have been moving to grab my wrist before I exploded up.

Shigemura blinked at my anger before he collected himself and stood up. "If you two wish to speak further," he said, "make another appointment. I'm very busy, though," he said, "so there's no guarantee I'll be able to see you."

I licked my lips, hot blood coursing through my body as the viper hissed in my ear, but I managed to quiet it down. Kazuto let go of my wrist as he collected his coat and the picture on the table, before he rose to his feet. The two of us bowed our heads politely to Shigemura before we took our leave.

Kazuto stopped just in front of the door, glancing to the side. "I didn't know you built robots too, Professor," he said almost calmly. I glanced at the box of scrap metal then over at Shigemura, who was standing in front of his desk. "Thanks for your time," he said, opening the door.

We headed outside and around a building, standing out of the way of the worst of the traffic. I glanced at him and raised an eyebrow. "You saw the picture too?" Kazuto nodded silently and pulled out his phone, already dialing the number for Kikuoka. The picture in question was the single framed photo on Professor Shigemura's desk. It was a young girl, maybe about Silica's age or a few years younger; she was wearing a simple white sweater over a blue shirt and a blue skirt, a pink treble clef over the left breast area of the sweater. She was smiling at the camera, her hands folded behind her back. Probably his daughter, all things considered.

What had drawn my interest, and why Kazuto's phone was ringing until the agent picked up, was the simple fact that the girl was almost identical to the Ordinal Scale idol, Yuna. Aside from brown eyes instead of red and brown hair instead of silver, she was the same. Even the braid of hair tracing her face was the same.

Eventually, the agent picked up his phone, and we made our request. He asked for five minutes, which we granted; five minutes on the dot later, Kazuto's phone rang again. "That's right," Kikuoka said after the niceties were done. "Professor Shigemura has a daughter. Or rather, _had_." I winced. "She died two years ago." I winced again, harder.

"Yuuna...?" Kazuto murmured, looking at the picture of the girl on his phone. Sure enough, it was the same girl as in the photo.

"I'm sure you've put two and two together already," Kikuoka said, "but I might as well confirm it for you. The cause of death was the NerveGear. She was a victim of SAO."

"Why would he do this?" Kazuto asked while he stared at his phone. "The hell's he trying to prove?"

"Well, maybe he honestly thinks he's doing good by making the SAO Survivors forget," Kikuoka offered.

I snarled. "Then _ask permission_ , rather than try to beg forgiveness. And it doesn't answer what he's doing, working with Eiji." I didn't know it for certain, but I was fairly sure. Even if Shigemura had denied knowing Eiji, the boy was able to summon a boss on demand and outside of schedule, all to take my memories. He had _some_ sort of connection with Shigemura, I knew he had to.

Kazuto frowned. "I can't prove it yet," he said, "but I'm sure that the Augma's dangerous. I need your help," he said. "Please, Mr. Kikuoka, shut down the service!"

"The Ministry of Economy is tied up with this, so we have to be careful with how we proceed," Kikuoka replied. I was tempted to ask how the Ministry of Defense would approach the situation, but all but literally bit my tongue. I still had no confirmation he was actually a part of that branch, and I didn't want to reveal my suspicions until I knew. "I am looking into everything you've told me," he continued. "But I can't move without proof."

"A bunch of the Ordinal Scale players are SAO Survivors," Kazuto said. "And if they fight any of the bosses from Old Aincrad, you're going to have a lot more people losing their memories."

I shook my head. "That's not enough proof for you? A rash of suspicious memory loss, all with the common thread of playing Ordinal Scale? You had less than that when you called us in for Death Gun."

"Yes, I know," Kikuoka sighed. "I'm doing the best I can. I'll check the hospital about Klein and his friends, confirm their symptoms with the doctors. But I'm more concerned about their broken bones than their memories." I exhaled sharply. "You two should take your own advice," Kikuoka told us. "Don't fight any more bosses. Your memories are important to me, too, don't forget that."

I grimaced. Yes, how could we forget that he needed to pick our brain about all of this? Kazuto stared at the phone silently, before saying goodbye and hanging up. He pulled his headphones out of his ears and tucked his phone back in his pocket, before we headed out to the parking lot where we'd parked our bikes. I'd ended up with time to head home and get a shower before Kazuto and I met up, since the lecture didn't take place until just after noon. As a result, we both drove to Toto Institute of Technology individually. I waved goodbye as I started my bike; he waved back absently, holding his phone up to his ear.

...

"I'm here," I said as I made my way to where Kana was waiting by the fountain. "Sorry I'm a little late, traffic wasn't awful but I took a wrong turn."

Kana giggled. "It's fine, it's fine," she said. "I just got here a few minutes ago, I didn't mind taking the chance to relax."

I smiled back at her. She looked lovely in her black shirt and golden skirt; the skirt had a little bow on the side that looked nice. Her sandals were black to match her shirt, and she had clearly taken the time to dress up even more than usual. "Now I feel a little underdressed," I said, picking at my shirt. I was wearing a light jacket on top of it, since I was riding my bike, but still.

"Don't worry about it," Kana assured me as she took my hand in hers and laced her fingers through mine. We started walking through the mall. "I just wanted to look nice today, that's all."

"Well, you succeeded."

She laughed. "Nya hah hah. You can't tell the difference, and we both know it."

I huffed quietly. "I can tell when you've put in effort, catling," I replied. "Seriously, you look beautiful."

"Thanks, Nick."

On our normal dates, Kana and I had _some_ goal in mind, even if that goal was a single store that we didn't bother going to visit until right before we went home for the night. Occasionally, we visited the store first and then wandered the town for a while, if we really wanted to go there first. Shopping in the mall was a rarity, just because Kana knew I didn't like clothes-shopping - so it was saved for when she wanted to tease me and make me squirm. Essentially, no matter what it was, we had at least one destination set in stone when Kana and I went out.

This time, though, neither of us had any place we'd planned on visiting. The date was set late last night and neither of us had really expected to be going anywhere today. As a result, this date was even more about simply being together and sharing each other's joy. Kana's hand was warm in mine, and our bodies bumped into each other like we were seeking the contact without being aware of it.

"Ooh, look over there," Kana would say, and we'd go wander into a little knick-knack store for a while. We'd take a look and Kana would grin, raising a little porcelain figure and showing it to me.

"What's that store?" I would ask, and we'd detour across the street to check out the strangely-named place I'd noticed. Sometimes, it'd be an interesting find, and Kana and I would spend fifteen minutes just browsing the wares without buying anything; sometimes, it'd be... not exactly what either of us expected and we'd flee after one look, our cheeks burning in embarrassment. Seriously, some of those should come with a content warning.

We didn't just wander through the city, looking for interesting stores and anything that caught our interest. The two of us were just wandering around for the day, and that included walks out in the recreational parks. We avoided Yoyogi, since we were just there two days ago - twice, in my case - but there were plenty of other greenery to visit, even without leaving the city. The peaceful walks were soothing, especially because there weren't any other people at this time of day. Just the two of us, walking through a peaceful park. Not particularly my cup of tea, but it was still enough just seeing the happy smile on Kana's face.

It was starting to get late, and Kana and I were starting to look for a place to eat dinner - on dates like these, we tried to try new restaurants that we hadn't tried before. Even if it wasn't very good, it was still a new experience that we shared together. Suddenly I saw a store, and gently tugged on Kana's arm. "What's up, Nick?" she asked. "See something good?"

"Actually, something else," I said with a small grin. "I forgot I wanted to stop by here, so mind if we drop by?"

Kana took a look at the store and turned to grin at me. "Usually the guy's a little subtler about taking a girl to a jewelry shop," she said. "I'm almost hurt you weren't trying to sneak around. I was looking forward to trying to figure out when you got my ring."

I blinked at her for a second, and then grinned sheepishly. "Uh... Um..."

"...You're not getting my ring," Kana said after a second, her cheeks slowly going red.

"...No."

"Whoops."

I stared at her, before the two of us broke into laughter. "Sorry, catling," I said. "I didn't even think about how this would look. All I wanted to do is get my ring size figured out, since I'll need it sooner or later." Kana grinned at me.

After that stop - made a little bit more awkward by how the jewelry store clerk _also_ assumed I was here to pick out a ring for Kana, which meant that I had to explain again that no, this was for me, and then Kana decided to get in on the fun and confuse the poor clerk by getting _her_ ring size as well - we went out and actually found something to eat; it was a small ramen shop that was more a hole-in-the-wall sort of location, which was exactly what the two of us wanted.

All in all... It was just a day out, the two of us taking more interest in each other than where we were going or looking. Both of us knew that we were doing it on purpose: hitting all of the romantic tropes of our date, even more than usual; walking together and always, always being in contact; and even the lighthearted teasing. It was all to form memories, memories that would stay with us even if our memories from Aincrad were lost. That was why I was letting Kana take the lead in deciding where we went, and why she was choosing places that we would both love.

Gods... I love my girlfriend.

* * *

I was absolutely, bone-deep terrified, and there was _nothing_ I could do about it.

I fell in love with Nick... a little after our first year in SAO. Even if I was paid enough to sell the info, I couldn't pinpoint exactly why, I think. It was just a slow, gradual process that ended with me realizing that I was in love with the Tactician. And minus a few hiccups, it actually worked out pretty well; he confessed, I confessed, he acted like an idiot for a few months, and then we started going out. There have been some rough patches, and as much as I love him Nick isn't the nicest person, but all things considered, I wouldn't change anything.

And now, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if, like Asuna, I lost my memories of Aincrad. I fell in love with Nick there. If I couldn't remember why I fell in love with him, would it change how I feel?

I didn't know. I couldn't say for certain either way, and that uncertainty was what terrified me.

That was why Nick and I went out today, honestly. Neither of us wanted to admit it, in case saying it out loud made it real, but we were doing our best to make memories today. Even if we lost our memories of our time in SAO, this would... hopefully make up for it. I was doing my best to hide my nervousness, but I'm not sure if Nick noticed or not.

I knew _he_ was nervous, even if he wasn't showing any of it. Case in point, the songs we were singing at karaoke right now, to fill some time after dinner; the songs he'd chosen to sing by himself were all his comfort songs, the ones that I knew he liked to sing. They were safe and familiar, and he knew the lyrics well enough to goof around in the booth with little gestures and things.

 _Even if it's passed 12am midnight, you're still my beloved 24 Hour Cinderella~_

Nick sang the last few notes and then did exaggerated motions for the last, "Hey! Hey! Hey!" I giggled at the ridiculous sight of him kneeling on the floor, arms spread wide, and he grinned at me, catching his breath quickly. "Something funny, catling?"

I grinned. "Nah. Just wondering how you can like music that old."

"Oh come on," he protested, knowing full well I was just teasing him. "Classical is even older! That song's only from the 80's, y'know."

"Nya hah hah!" I laughed brightly, smirking at him. "You're too easy."

He sighed. "Give me a break, Kana..."

"No way, this is way too much fun."

He took a seat, putting the mic down on the table. Instead of reaching for the mic myself and selecting the next song, I watched as my boyfriend dug his phone out of his pocket. I'd seen him flinch and pat it earlier, while he was singing the song, and I was pretty sure I knew what was going to come next.

Sure enough, Nick grimaced at the text message and sighed, before looking up at me. "Sorry, catling," he began.

I shook my head. "Kazuto, right?" He gave me a resigned shrug in return. "Figured... Oh well. We can call it a day here, right?"

"If you don't mind," he said. "I can always tell Kazuto -"

Reaching out, I rested a hand on his cheek. Like always, he was warm. His eyes closed and he tilted his head, putting just the smallest amount of pressure on my hand. "Nah, it's fine," I said. "Besides, I wanted to go home and get changed before heading out with the girls."

He blinked, halfway through picking up after us. "Wait, what? You never said anything about going out with everyone after this."

"Because you never asked. Besides, I'd have charged ya, so it's cool, right?"

He regarded me, and then shook his head. "Never change, catling," he said, and my heart skipped a beat. "Never change."

I snickered. "Wasn't planning on it."

On the bike ride home, I just hugged Nick tight and pressed myself to his back while I tried to memorize the feeling. His surprisingly muscular back, his warmth, how my heart soared when I hugged him... I didn't want to lose any of these precious memories. After we arrived, I got off the bike and pressed a quick kiss to Nick's cheek. "Be safe," I ordered him. "You're not allowed to get hurt, got it?"

"Understood, ma'am," he said with a soft smile. "Have fun with everyone."

He drove away as I waved goodbye. Once he turned the corner, the sound of his bike starting to fade in the distance, I turned and headed inside to get changed into something more casual. After I said hello to my mom and dad, I went up to my room. Before I got changed or anything, I grabbed a note and scribbled some information down, sticking it on my monitor so that I didn't forget later. Something had come to me while out with Nick, and I didn't want it to escape while I was out singing with the girls.

I flipped through my closet and selected a nice-looking skirt and blouse combo. It wasn't as dressy as what I'd worn with Nick, but it still looked good on me once I tossed on some leggings too. My hair stubbornly refused to cooperate, and I gave up after a few seconds of running a brush through the brown curls. It was naturally wild - and there was always this one tuft of hair on the top that stubbornly stuck straight up. Nick swore that it was cute, though, so... Oh well. I pulled on some knee-high boots and headed out again, saying bye to my parents. They'd probably be asleep by the time I got home - Keiko had been the one to organize this karaoke meetup, and she'd informed me that we were going to be practicing for tomorrow's concert, so I figured we'd be in there for a long while.

Stopping to pick up a bottle of water along the way to let my throat recover meant that I was the last to arrive; everyone else was already waiting. Asuna smiled at me as I approached them. "Kana, there you are." I grinned at her, glad that she seemed to be holding up okay.

"Sorry I'm late, stopped to get a drink," I said, holding up the empty plastic bottle. Lucky me, getting to be surrounded by pretty girls for the rest of the night! Asuna was wearing a loose top, green sleeves with a black middle that had a little design on the chest - red cats, and a pawprint - to go with her skirt and tights, with a purse slung over her shoulder. Rika had a cute orange dress that left the top of her arms bare, a thin belt wrapped around her waist, and Keiko was wearing a dress that looked a little bit like a school uniform. Shino had on a black blouse with a lavender-colored overcoat, tied in a bow around her waist.

Hey, I might be Nick's girlfriend, but I can still enjoy the eye candy that's presented to me. I just have to look without touching.

"About time," Keiko huffed, all but bouncing in place. I grinned at her enthusiasm; out of all of us, she was looking forward to Yuna's concert the most, with the possible exception of Suguha. I hadn't really watched the two girls all that closely, though, so I couldn't make a statement one way or another. "Let's go, let's go! We have to be ready for tomorrow!"

With the young girl leading the way, we all headed to the karaoke place that we'd booked ahead of time. It felt a little bit different from going with Nick; instead of just the two of us walking side by side, five of us were walking in a small pack, and we didn't all spread out in a straight line. Keiko and Rika stuck by Asuna's side, up front, while Shino and I hung a small bit behind them. I think the quiet, glasses-wearing girl still feels a little like an outsider into our group, even if my boyfriend's efforts have been thawing the ice a little bit.

So, it fell to me to bug her. "Hey, Shinononon," I said, grinning at her minor huff of irritation at the silly nickname, "I heard you're the one responsible for patching up Nick yesterday."

"Oh, he talked to you like he said he would, then?" she asked, smiling faintly.

I grinned. "Yeah, he did. We went out this afternoon and spent the day together. Thanks for everything."

"It's nothing," she demurred. "I'm just glad he has someone like you looking out for him."

With a bright laugh, I threw my arms around her shoulder in a hug. ...I just remembered I'm four years older than her, and she's still a little bit taller than me. Sometimes I hate being short. "Nya hah hah! Sounds to me like you were the one looking after him yesterday, not me."

Shino bore with the hug for a second, until I let go. "So, where did you two go?"

"That'd be telling~," I said with a grin. "And you know the rules, I don't tell -"

"Unless we pay you, I know," she sighed, shaking her head. "You're such a mercenary."

"An info broker's life is a hard one," I said. My grin was unflappable.

When we finally reached the karaoke place Keiko didn't waste any time rushing to our booth, tugging Asuna along for the ride. By the time Rika, Shino and I sat down on the other couch in the room, she'd already set up a playlist of songs we were going to be singing - all of them from Yuna's singles, of course. We ordered some drinks and started up the first song, ready to sing our hearts out!

...

Just before the beginning of the third song, Rika blinked and glanced at her tablet. After a second, she tapped me and Shino on the shoulder and nodded towards the door. I peered over her shoulder, tilting my head to read the screen, and realized that it was Suguha, requesting a video call. I thought that kendo camp of hers didn't have internet?

The three of us stepped outside, Shino bringing her drink with her and sipping at it through the straw placidly and answered the call. Suguha's face appeared on the screen, and I took in her surroundings automatically. It looked like she was in some kind of room, but not like the dojo the Kirigaya siblings had in their house. Maybe a common room of some hotel, or wherever they were staying?

After greetings finished, Suguha asked the question we all knew was coming. "How's Asuna?" She must have gotten the information from Kazuto or Nick, and called as soon as she did.

"She's doing okay," Rika said while she held up the tablet so that we could all see the image. It sucked that there were three of us, so we couldn't use headphones, but it didn't matter much, the only people here to listen were the staff. Sure, it was dangerous to dismiss any listener - it's how I got so much of my information, people talking out loud when they thought they were alone - but I didn't think they'd be interested in this. "But... You wanna know the truth? I think Silica blames herself for what happened."

Suguha frowned. "I didn't even know... If only I could have gone to one of those battles..."

Rika hummed. "Klein got himself hurt at one and ended up in the hospital," she said. "It's probably better you stayed away.

Shino looked up at Rika, letting the straw fall from her mouth. The ice in her glass clinked. "You said it," she said. "Kirito told everyone not to fight the bosses in OS because it's so dangerous, and then he goes and tries to fight one by himself. I sorta helped him on the last one, though," she added. There was almost a note of smugness, and I grinned. Ooh, point to Shino!

Of course, I couldn't let her get away with that. "Right, that was the one yesterday, where you and Nick helped out Kazuto," I said. The slight upturn of her lips fell back to neutral, and I shrugged. No taking all the credit when Nick did some of the work, sorry. Even if I like you, that won't fly.

"Hmmmm..." Suguha grumbled, eyebrows twitching. "Th-Then you know what?" she said. "I'm gonna make him a video to teach him some kendo moves. Then he'll cruise through those battles, no sweat!"

"Mm-hm!" Rika nodded. "Violence bringing siblings together."

I snickered. "Guess it solves all problems, huh?"

The door to the soundproof karaoke room opened abruptly, loud pop music spilling into the hall, and Keiko poked her head out. "Come on!" she snapped at Rika. The brunette flinched in surprise at her bark. "We're singing the next song together! We're here to practice, remember? The concert's tomorrow! Take the mic and get in here!" She grabbed Rika's wrist, plopped a microphone in her open hand, and then tugged her inside the room. Rika just barely had time to hand the tablet off to me before our miniature drill sergeant yanked her inside and onto the couch next to Asuna.

I glanced inside to see Asuna smiling and Keiko with a determined scowl on her face. It's weird to see Keiko taking charge like this, and even more so to see Rika just going along with it. Looks like the three of them are singing Break Beat Bark next. Ooh, I like that one.

"I don't know if this is cheering her up," Shino sighed, leaning against the wall and sipping at her drink. I held up the tablet to show Suguha what was happening.

Suguha studied the scene in front of her, and then smiled. "What do you mean? Looks like Asuna's having fun."

"If you say so..."

A barked order came from the speaker of the tablet, and I watched Suguha's face twitch in dismay. "Oh, crap, gotta go," she said. "Say hi to Kazuto for me!"

"Will do," I replied, waving a little bit before the feed went dark. "Well... I'll do it tomorrow," I said. "Or maybe get Nick to pass it on."

Shino smiled, the ice in her glass rattling around as she finished the drink. "We should get back to singing, or Silica will be after us next."

"Yeah. She kinda scares me a little when she gets like this, actually."

The rest of the karaoke night was pretty fun - after going through each of the songs together, we started doing individual songs and duets. 'For practice,' Keiko informed us, and there wasn't really a way to decline. Keiko and Asuna ended up doing a pretty good version of Ubiquitous dB, and I was surprised that Rika and Shino pulled off Break Beat Bark as well as they did. Their personalities clashed a lot of the time. As for me, I was able to claim prior practice with Nick, and so got to avoid singing _too_ much.

I couldn't help but wonder if Keiko was practicing too much for the concert the next day. It'd really suck if her throat was sore and she couldn't sing. I think I'll bring a few lozenges just in case.

* * *

 **Surprise Kana viewpoint! Neat!**

 **It always feels longer when I'm writing the fight scenes. Maybe because they're denser? I mean, it's a fifth of the chapter, but only three pages long. I think it came out pretty well; I'm playing around with my narrative description since that's a thing I've gotten yelled at for in the past, which means that you might have noticed the battlefields being described a little bit more in detail.**

 **After that, just more fun times with Nick and Shino, and Nick and Kana. Look up the song he's singing with Kana (24 Hour Cinderella), and then know:**

 **Yakuza 0 is a** _ **good game.**_

 **After that, Kana and the girls at the karaoke parlor. I'm trying my best to make her and Nick's internal thoughts a little bit different, what with the things they notice and how they think. Writing Nightblade Progressive (name to be determined) has helped with that a lot, but it's still very much a work in progress. (also yes, I'm writing nightblade progressive, surprise surprise that you all knew was coming)**

 **Many thanks to everyone that favorited, followed, or left a review.**


	6. Ad Libitum

**Ad Libitum**

* * *

I leaned forward on my bike, lowering my head as I followed the GPS to Kazuto's location. It was almost time for the fights to start, and I wanted to talk to him about the message he sent me before everything kicked off for the night. The text hadn't had much detail to go on... Besides, Din and Yui predicted that there were going to be multiple spawns tonight again, so there wasn't going to be much time to talk once it started.

When I arrived, Kazuto was pacing around in circles. I recognized the motion; I did the same thing when I had too much energy and nothing to do, or when I was thinking hard about something and my body needed to just move. In this case, it was probably the former, since he looked up as soon as I approached. "Nick, you're here," he said.

"Got your text," I replied with a shrug. "I wasn't going to let you down. But you're gonna have to explain exactly what you meant by 'We're going grinding.'"

Kazuto had the grace to look a little sheepish, especially when I paired my dry delivery with a raised eyebrow. "Oh. Sorry, I was in a hurry... I was looking around earlier, searching for any sign of Eiji, and then suddenly I was just... walking through a dark garden."

I tilted my head and prepared an eloquent response. "Huh?" I asked.

"I don't know how," he said, "but I was... Full Diving. On the top floor of Aincrad. The Ruby Palace was right in front of me as the sun rose."

My eyes widened. The Ruby Palace... That was the final floor, where we would have fought Kayaba had Kazuto not put the clues together on Floor 75 and killed him there. I still didn't feel guilty about keeping quiet; I knew Kayaba's identity, but I had bartered my silence for Kazuto and Asuna's happiness. Even if other players had died, I didn't know _them_.

"I looked around," he said. "The gardens were full of flowers, and butterflies flying around. And then I saw Yuuna."

"...The ghost girl, or..."

He shrugged. "She had her hood down and looked exactly like that picture of Shigemura's daughter. We can call her White Yuna, I guess? I don't know for certain what she is. I asked her all kinds of questions, but she didn't answer any of them. There was this song she sang... It was so familiar..."

He trailed off, and I shook my head. "So we don't know anything more than when we started?"

"I'm getting there," he said. "Sorry, I got lost in thought. But White Yuna said that we _can_ get Asuna's memory back." As those words echoed in my head, my spine blazed with electricity and my fingers clenched into fists. We can do this. No matter what I have to do, I will help my sister. "But she said the rank I have now isn't high enough to do it."

I took a slow, deep breath and then exhaled. "So we're going to fight. And kill. All of the bosses tonight, you're going to steal the Last Attack Bonus and raise your rank as high as it can be."

Kazuto nodded silently.

I grinned at him, and cracked my knuckles. I winced a little from the pain in my left hand, regretting touching the raw skin, but the sting died away quickly. My heart pounded in my chest and the viper inside me squeezed and contracted over and over, flexing with every heartbeat. "Let's do this."

...

The first boss we fought that night was simple. It had been a hard boss to fight at the time, so its patterns were burned deep in my muscle memory. It was a massive stone golem, purple with red lines tracing its body. In addition to its size, the body alone serving as a weapon if it stomped on us, its right was a gigantic stone longsword. As we whittled the health down, it blazed with blue flame, and the boss roared before slashing.

A wave of blue energy rippled out, passing through players without slowing down. Even their shields didn't stop the penetrating force. I saw one player get cut through the chest and then collapse to his knees, unresponsive. Must be an SAO Survivor, losing his memory... But there wasn't any time for me to worry or think about that. I ducked under the wave of energy, Kirito doing the same thing since I'd warned him it was coming, and then the two of us bolted forward.

The golem's eyes flashed as it turned to us, and I pulled forward just a little bit. I slipped under its guard and past its sword as it tried to smash us to the ground, and planted my feet as I drove an uppercut into the vulnerable stomach area of the humanoid boss. It cracked, and part of me wanted to drive the blow home, shattering it entirely - but I didn't, pulling back my punch and dodging to the side. After all, I wasn't the one that needed the kill.

Kirito had slipped by the boss's sword on the other side, and now that I was clear he could strike. With a strong, heavy slash his sword bit into the golem's side, ripping through the cracked area and carving a huge chunk of stone free. The damage was more than enough to kill the already-weak boss, and it exploded in a spray of multi-colored confetti.

We didn't even wait to watch the animation finish. Before the confetti finished imploding, Kirito and I had already finished sheathing our blades and were running to our bikes. "Multiple bosses have appeared, just like last night!" Yui reported. "But this time it's the ones from floors 20 to 30!"

"They're spawning at a staggered rate," Din told us, flying in the air alongside Yui. "If you can kill each boss in five minutes, then including travel time you should be able to reach them all!"

Ten bosses, huh? And if they're from 20 to 30... "Kirito," I said as the two of us ran through the dark park. He gasped out some sort of acknowledgement. "The boss from 26. It's mine," I said, through my deep breaths. My stamina was better than his, and I could talk while running, but this was still going to be hard. I had to pace myself... "My payment for fighting with you. You can have the others, but that one is _my kill_."

"Yeah," he panted. "We're gonna take all of them down tonight!"

Driving to and from the battles was probably the most stressful part of the night. Using GPS, we would drive to the boss as fast as possible. Sometimes I'd reach the location first, but usually it was Kirito. He was just more reckless when it came to weaving in and out of traffic. Fortunately, there weren't any accidents - or, at least, Yui and Din routed us around them. Each boss spawned for only ten minutes, and they were far enough apart that even with the fastest routes and our skill, we were cutting it close.

The routine was simple. We would show up, park our bikes a little haphazardly - most of the time I didn't bother locking my helmet, since it would just waste time later. All we did was park, get off, make sure our Augmas were on, and then run to the boss. If we were lucky and the spawn was close to the other one, we'd arrive a minute early. Most of the time, the boss was spawning just as we reached the zone. Once the boss spawned, I would do my best to remember the patterns and fill in Kirito as fast as possible. After that, it was just the two of us, relying on our hard-earned skill.

And every time, we succeeded. It helped that the other players weren't as driven; when the bosses started rampaging at the end of their lives, they tended to back off and watch the new pattern shift instead of pressing the attack. This was fine. It meant that Kirito and I could charge in with reckless abandon. After all, we didn't need to watch the shift when we already knew what was going to happen.

I would weaken the boss with my dagger and my fists, and then Kirito would kill them with his heavy longsword. As soon as the kill was confirmed, we'd run back to our bikes and start driving to the next location, courtesy of Din and Yui.

The only exception to the rule was The Venomous One, the boss from Floor 26. That one was _mine_ , and Kirito accepted my terms. Instead of taking the kill when the gigantic snake - just as harmless as I remembered, though that could be more because with every pounding blow from me and Kirito, its head snapped to the side - reached low health, he dropped back to avoid its spray of venomous spines.

Instead of trying to dodge, I just raised my fists. "It didn't work last time," I snarled at the boss. "And it won't this time either!" With a hiss, the boss shook and writhed, launching the spines out. I hissed out a breath and -

\- ducked my head, swerving to the left as one spine flew to my head. The next spine coming to my body was blocked by my dagger, smashing the projectile to the side. I spun with the force of my block, and brought my hand up as I completed the spin just in time to see the third and final spine coming towards me. I didn't have time to dodge, or bring my dagger up to block, so I took the easy way out. A punch lashed out, colliding with the tip of the spine, and it _splintered_ under the force of my blow. It froze in midair for less than a heartbeat before I followed through with the punch, reversing the spine's flight. The other pointed end streaked straight for the boss's open mouth, stabbing into the viper's vulnerable tongue. _That_ little stunt earned a shriek of pain.

...That wasn't exactly intended, but... _fuck yeah, that was awesome_.

I nearly stumbled from the spin, but I kept my balance and ran towards the boss. It's almost impressive, the way the boss shrunk from me. Do you _remember me yet_?!

It lifted its head in an attempt to rear away from my approach, but that was fine, I could improvise. With a snarl, I dug my dagger into the soft underbelly of the snake and ripped forward as I ran. The slight tugging increased as the edge of my blade slid into the harder scales on its side, and I ripped my dagger out with a flash, tucking and rolling.

I came up to my knees as the boss whirled, wrapping its body around me. My eyes darted left and right, but there wasn't any way for me to escape. If it were the virtual world, I could just fly out, but... here in AR, the rules were different. The Venomous One opened its maw to let out a loud hiss and I tensed, just before the boss snapped its head forward and struck.

My dagger flashed up.

The boss froze, a red line tracing vertically directly down the center of its head. My dagger's edge had split the snake almost perfectly in half, and I smiled fiercely as it exploded in confetti, freeing me. Even while the confetti expanded, I sheathed my dagger and found Kirito waiting for me by the edge of the mall space. I jogged over to him and the two of us headed for our bikes.

Only a few more to go...

...

The final boss was in front of us; Waheela The Black Wolf, the boss of Floor 28. I don't remember the Floor itself, but Waheela was memorable enough. A gigantic crimson wolf, its shoulder coming up to my head, with the power to turn itself into smoke and shadow. In the fight in Aincrad, it'd taken extra effort by the Knights of the Blood and the rest of us Clearers to beat it.

Unfortunately, I couldn't remember precisely the strategy we used to defeat it then. I think it was the stress of being in front of people that drove it from my mind - Waheela was only the third fight I'd helped coordinate as a tactician, and I still wasn't used to the attention at the time. Most of my effort had gone into making sure we hadn't screwed everything up, or more importantly, making sure that I didn't embarrass myself in front of the crowds.

Waheela lunged, jaws snapping closed. Sparks flew as its teeth grated against Kirito's sword, and he gritted his teeth with the strain. Steam billowed from the monster's mouth, its hot breath fogging up on contact. While it was stunned, I took advantage of the opportunity and slashed out, my dagger carving a crescent of red along its flank. At the same time, Kirito surged and ripped his sword out with a grunt, slashing Waheela's mouth open. His second blow thrust forward and slammed into the boss's chin, knocking it flying.

Before the crimson wolf struck the ground, though, it exploded into black smoke. Kirito and I spread out, watching the trail of inky darkness to see which of us it was attacking. I had a gut feeling, though, and sure enough it was right; the shadow struck at Kirito, ignoring me completely. I gritted my teeth, feeling an itch in my body burn as I wanted to rush in and attack, but I knew I couldn't.

Kirito blocked the blow and Waheela's shadow form bounced around, curving and swerving in midair for another attempt. Kirito blocked that one as well, and the boss bounced again. "I can't believe they're knocking down its HP all by themselves," I heard someone whisper. We'd already told them that we were going to be the ones to solo it; after a few pointed stares and minor threats of PK courtesy of me, they agreed. Waheela struck again and this time Kirito countered instead of parrying, his sword cutting the darkness.

Splatters of shadow struck the ground and fizzled away, so it looks like he's doing _something_ right. Waheela cycled through its pattern again, and so did Kirito; block, block, counter. After countering, the shadow closed up and swooped at him, and Kirito bounced back. I winced when I watched him run into someone. Kirito turned to glare at him, and the boss landed up on the ring surrounding the arena; this was a new area for me, resembling a coliseum with steel spikes ringing the black walls. "Jeez, chill out," the guy Kirito ran into said. "What are you getting so worked up for? It's only a game!"

My eyes tracked the boss's movement and I was already in pursuit by the time it finished racing along the top of the arena and jumped down. It landed among a group of watching players and they scattered as the shadow reformed into the huge wolf, snarling and snapping at anyone in range. Before it could bite down on someone, I introduced my dagger to its jaws and forced them shut early, saving the man. "Move it!" Kirito shouted. I spared a second to glance at him; he was running this way, sword drawn.

He jumped in the air and slashed Waheela's side, earning a growl from the boss. He aimed for a follow-up attack, but the boss burst into smoke before he could hit it. My eyes widened. "Phase two," I shouted to him, backing up to put my back against his.

Sure enough, as the cloud of darkness rushed me, the head and forepaws of the boss reformed - just in time to meet my blade rising up and burst into darkness again. I couldn't block; it would pass through my blade, for whatever reason. The only way to do damage while it was in this phase was to counter the blows before they struck. The darkness wheeled and reformed behind me. I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see Kirito step forward in a slash, cutting the boss's head and making it split apart again.

Kirito shouted with rage as he chased down the smoke, forcing me to follow him to keep his back secure. I sighed in resigned dismay and chased after him, watching as he cut another attack attempt down. It reformed again and rushed from the side, but I met the charge with a slash of my dagger. Waheela burst apart and reformed behind me, lunging away and then back only to be met by Kirito's slash.

"It's time for a bonus stage!" My eyes widened, and I looked up. Unexpectedly, Yuna was standing there, arms stretched out; but this wasn't White Yuna, the... whatever she was that we'd been talking to. Instead, this was the idol version of Yuna, the one we'd all known about before this started. Black Yuna, maybe? "Good luck, everyone!"

The green light sprinkled down and covered my body, along with everyone else that was here. An icon appeared in my vision and I shrugged, grinning lightly. Increased speed was nice and all, but it only really affected how heavy my weapon felt - and since I was a dagger-user, it didn't really weigh all that much in the first place.

With a shout, Kirito slashed at Waheela and the boss split apart again, dashing away. It reformed further away, its entire body coming out of the cloud of darkness, and my eyes widened. "Oh crap!" I yelped, tucking and rolling. Waheela howled and its shadow spread out without a light source affecting it, covering the ground in front of it in a large cone. Spikes burst from the darkness, piercing players left and right. I'd managed to jump far enough to get away, but Kirito was still struck by it; I saw that his chest had been pierced, as well as his arm. He was stuck, and his health was going to start draining fast.

It might kill him.

With a _hiss of rage_ I surged from my knees, running to the boss. It was stuck in position and couldn't attack, and there was no way it could avoid my next move. I planted my feet solidly and dropped my right shoulder before leaning in and letting out a _shout_ as my right fist drove upwards. After all, it's casting a shadow. If I move the source, it'll break the shadow.

My uppercut slammed into the vulnerable stomach of Waheela and with a yip of surprise it went flying as the curve of my fist arced up. The red wolf formed into shadow in midair, but my goal had been accomplished - by knocking the boss away I was able to interrupt the attack. I whirled to see Kirito was perfectly fine, his eyes hard with anger. A long howl caught my attention and I braced myself to counter Waheela's charge, and as it burst from the black cloud to slash at me -

\- Kirito's sword slammed into the small of the wolf's back, pinning it to the ground. Waheela The Black Wolf didn't even have a chance to fight back; the damage we'd done, combined with Kirito's savage attack just now, killed it. As it burst into multi-colored confetti, exploding outwards, the watchers cheered loudly. After pausing in midair, the confetti imploded in on itself, disappearing with a little pop and sprinkle.

I approached Kirito as he stood up and sheathed his sword. "Good job," I said with a simple nod. Above his head, his rank counter ticked down until it stopped; he was now ranked 9th in the game. I didn't know what mine was, but it'd be high. He'd earned more points than me tonight, thanks to getting the kill on most of the bosses, but I'd still earned the participation awards.

Kirito nodded back, and I hid a worried look. His eyes were wild and angry, and even succeeding in defeating all ten bosses - which, by the way, I can feel my legs burning from all the running around I've done tonight, this _hurts_ \- hadn't quenched the anger. I was pretty sure nothing would, until he successfully saved Asuna.

"Congratulations!" The mocking voice was a little... different than I remembered it. Kirito and I turned to see Eiji standing there, clad in his purple Ordinal Scale outfit. He was applauding quietly. "It looks like you've finally learned how to handle yourself in this game... Black Swordsman."

"You _bastard_!" Kirito shouted. Before I could stop him he lunged at Eiji, swinging his sword in an overhead slash.

Eiji grabbed Kirito's arm and twisted. Without the number two even having to take a step, Kirito's momentum was used against him and my brother was flipped onto his back. I winced as he hit the ground hard, but wiped the expression from my face before I stepped forward to smirk at Eiji. "How's the nose?" I asked, a sharp grin pulling at my lips.

The boy looked the same as when I fought him yesterday - with the exception of a cut scabbed over on his mouth. "Oh, this?" Eiji asked. "It's nothing. My lip was split, that's all." I snarled at him, hissing under my breath. Rat fuck bastard... I'm going to enjoy smashing that look of superiority off your face.

Kirito rolled over and pushed himself to his hands and knees, and Eiji turned around with a smirk. For an instant the viper lunged, aiming for his back, but I was able to shove it down and bottle it up again. In front of Kirito, a message appeared; from where I was standing I couldn't read it, but Kirito's eyes widened.

"Instead of Yuna rewarding you," Eiji said, "I will." With one final glance at me over his back, he jumped away. Despite doing my best to track him, I lost sight of him almost immediately. Damn my night vision being terrible, and damn my kinetic vision being shit too.

Walking up, I offered Kirito my hand to help him to his feet and he accepted it. Once he was upright, he spun the message around to show me. 'Come to Yuna's concert. I'll return Lightning Flash's memories there. From E'. I tilted my head as I thought about it. Would Eiji just... give it up, like that? I doubt it. If he would, he would have done so when I tracked him down yesterday. This was a trap of some sort. "You're going to have to fight him," I said quietly.

"I know."

"Do you want me to help?" Kirito's eyes hardened, and I looked at him. "You might be a higher rank than me in the game, Kirito, but that's the game. My fighting style is the one designed for fighting humans."

Kirito licked his lips, and then said, "... I want to tell you to wait up with the others, at the concert. Make sure they're safe. But you wouldn't listen, would you."

It wasn't a question, but he already knew the answer: I wouldn't. In any case, the girls weren't helpless on their own. They'd have Agil there, too; there would be five SAO survivors and the champion of the third BoB in GGO, so I would just be another helping hand in the end. "I'll be with you," I said. "C'mon, let's go home."

...

I leaned back on Kana's bed, staring at the ceiling. She snuggled against my body, pressing close, and I absently put my arm around her. Like there was any chance I wasn't going to spend tonight with her, when there was the chance of losing my memories tomorrow. Judging by the way she'd agreed almost instantly, I was pretty sure she felt the same way. "Suguha's gonna send Kazuto a video showing him how to do kendo moves," she said quietly. The room was dark and we were nominally trying to fall asleep.

"Good," I replied. "It'll help." Both in the sense that knowing how to swing a sword will assist him in Ordinal Scale, and in the sense that like my martial arts, kendo is a fighting style designed to clash against others. I didn't say anything about Kazuto's duel tomorrow with Eiji; he'd asked me to keep quiet about it from the others, and I'd agreed - with the implicit exception of Kana, naturally. He'd known better than to even consider asking me to keep it a secret from her.

"Tomorrow everything will be over, huh?" she murmured. I just nodded, before rolling on my side. Kana faced me, her small hands on my chest, and I gently pressed my forehead against hers. "We'll be okay, Nick. We'll be okay."

"We will," I said to her. "I promise." Kana smiled up at me, and we settled down to try to fall asleep and get ready for tomorrow.

* * *

The New National Stadium Arena was exactly as crowded as I expected it to be. Sure, the place was huge and had all the amenities expected of a high-tech public area - the decor was nice, and the part of the stadium where we could walk around was pleasant enough, not to mention all the drinking fountains and bathrooms - but that didn't change the fact that it was still filled with people. I could already feel my body tense up just thinking about how many people were going to be packed together. See, this is why I don't go to live concerts ever. It sucks.

Now, because Kana, Shino and I had purchased our tickets through the normal means - that is, Kana and Shino purchased them from the seller - we could sit wherever we wanted. However, Asuna and the others from the SAO Survivor School couldn't choose; they were stuck in the bleachers. We chose to sit together, naturally. It meant we weren't seated on the floor itself, with an up-close and personal view of the stage, but I didn't care all that much. My family was more important than watching Yuna.

"Wow," Shino said idly, looking around. It was early, but the seats on the floor were already filled up. "Yuna's more popular than I thought."

We were all wearing regular casual clothing, as strange as it was for me to see Agil outside of ALO or his bar. Everyone looked nice, though Keiko was rubbing her throat from time to time, for some reason. I wonder if she's okay... Either way, the seven of us filed into the seats pretty naturally; Keiko and Rika were on the far end, with Asuna sandwiched between Rika and Shino. I sat between Shino and Kana, with Agil taking a seat on the right side of our little pack.

"Ugh," Keiko whispered hoarsely. "My throat's sore from karaoke..."

We all looked at the poor girl. She looked totally mortified - and she'd even dressed up nicely for this event. "That's what you get for overdoing it," Rika said.

Kana grinned and passed me something. I glanced at the small wrapped item in my hand and chuckled, shaking my head. "Keiko, here," I said, getting up to hand it to the girl. She took the throat lozenge gratefully and popped it into her mouth at once.

"Thanks, Nick, you're the best," she said.

I just shook my head. "Don't thank me, thank Kana. She's the one that brought them."

My girlfriend leaned forward and lifted her purse. "I've got more if you need them."

"Ah! Thanks so much!"

I smiled, seeing Keiko's face light up like that. Asuna turned and smiled as well. "Silica," she said. "Thank you for yesterday."

"O-oh, sure!"

On the other side of us, Agil sighed. "Oh, man... Wish Klein and Suguha could be here." We all nodded.

"Wait," Asuna said as everyone finally took their seats. "Where's Kirito? Nick, do you know?"

I shrugged. "Bathroom break," I replied. "He'll be back in time, don't worry." I had no idea how long it would take for us to fight and defeat Eiji, but it shouldn't be too long. For one thing, it was about to be a two-on-one fight; and on the second hand, Eiji fought with my style… Kazuto knew how to counter that, and it was _my_ style. I knew how to beat myself. "On that note, I need to take a piss myself. Be right back."

"Gross, Nick." Kana sighed after her automatic complaint and waved her hand at me. Asuna wrinkled her nose at my crudity. "Hurry back."

"Yeah, I will," I said before getting out of my seat and stepping past my girlfriend, hurrying to the aisle and then up the steps. I had to push past a few people looking for their seats in the bleachers, but their huffs of offense and irritation meant less than nothing to me. The viper hissed in my ears, and I felt my lips spread in a feral smile that held no humor.

The cool air washed over me as I stepped out of the inner part of the arena, and as soon as the doors behind me closed the loud chatter of the waiting audience members was muffled. I didn't waste any time, trying to remember where the nearest elevator was. I remembered that we'd turned left to enter the doors, so I turned to the right and started running. I needed to get there as fast as possible... I smashed the button on the elevator door as soon as I found one, hitting the thing over and over again like it would help. "Come on, open, you stupid thing," I growled, heart pounding.

Eventually - after what felt like ages - the elevator chimed and the steel doors slid open. I darted inside and hit the button for the third basement floor, hammering on the close doors button to speed it up even by a second or two. The elevator plunged, and all I could think about was 'What happens if I'm too late?' I was pretty sure I would be fine, but anything could happen in a second.

In all honesty, I was a little worried about Kazuto. Mainly because while I believed that he was the better swordsman, Eiji was cheating. He was faster and stronger than could be possible thanks to... whatever was boosting his abilities. Plus, I hadn't said anything, but I could see that Kazuto was running on pure willpower by now. I got the feeling that he hadn't slept much last night, and that he'd spent a good portion of time practicing the swings Suguha had sent him.

Training wasn't a _bad_ thing, in and of itself, but Kazuto was rushing things. I'd checked him earlier, when we were the only ones at the stadium, and it didn't seem like his muscles were exhausted, but he'd been totally uninterested in fighting even three days ago. It took time to build stamina up, and I wasn't sure Kazuto would be able to fight and beat Eiji.

Of course, that's why _I_ was there.

The doors opened, and I stepped forward. I hesitated for a second before I shook my head and said, "Din?"

"Uncle's signal is coming from over that way," Din said, pointing straight forward. I nodded in thanks and started walking forward casually. Once I knew where to go, it was easy to hear the sound of voices going back and forth in the direction I was going, echoing a little strangely in the concrete jungle of the parking.

I arrived on the scene just in time to hear Kazuto and Eiji shout, "Ordinal Scale, activate!" The two of them dashed forward almost simultaneously, swinging their little wands in the air. It looked ridiculous to me, but to them they'd be swinging sharpened blades with killing intent.

Well. Let's not leave them waiting. I clenched my fists and winced for a heartbeat as it pulled the sensitive skin on my left hand, but put it out of mind. The viper hissed loudly as I said, soft enough for my words to be hidden by the clash of the two's combat, "Ordinal Scale, activate."

I was surrounded by blue fire and the world changed just a little bit; my casual clothes were replaced by my Ordinal Scale uniform, and a pair of heavy gauntlets wrapped around my fist. I licked my lips and nodded to Din to back up to Kana and the others. He nodded and flew over to give me a quick hug before flying up, disappearing into sparkles before he hit the ceiling.

Alright. Now it's just Kirito, Eiji… and me. I took a slow breath in and let it out again, centering myself, before peeking around the concrete pillar I was hiding behind. Kirito and Eiji were clashing, swords slamming into each other. I raised my hand out, catching Kirito's eye, and he nodded almost imperceptibly. Kirito knew I was here… I just needed a good chance to lunge in.

Kirito swung with a shout, and Eiji shouted back as he slashed upwards, parrying Kirito's blade – but that was the whole point. The clash was loud and echoed, and I used the noise to cover my approach as I kicked off the ground and raced forward. A harsh breath hissed out of me as I struck, shooting my fist forward in a punch aimed to the lower ribs.

It connected solidly and I felt a moment of savage glee when Eiji stumbled. "What?!" he exclaimed, knocked off-balance by my blow. I grinned and lowered my shoulder to convert the strike to an elbow that whiffed as he stumbled away. Of course, Kirito was still there, and he swung his sword in a gleaming arc towards Eiji's neck.

Eiji moved inhumanely quickly, swinging his sword with enough force to push Kirito back. Still breaking physical limits, he added pressure to Kirito, swinging and swinging, forcing Kirito on the defensive. Kirito blocked desperately, sparks flying as his sword bounced. As Eiji lowered his arm for a horizontal slash, Kirito used the bounce to position himself for a downward cleave –

\- but Eiji smirked and his left hand whipped out to grab Kirito's wrist. My brother's eyes widened and he dropped a knee, rolling as soon as Eiji let go. Eiji's slash went over his head, and I snarled as my fist smashed forward towards his face. "I'm here too!" I snapped. Eiji, seemingly unconcerned, cartwheeled away from the first punch and jumped over my next combo. His after-image trailed over my head towards a nearby concrete pillar before he kicked off towards me, sword trying to pierce my body. I got my hands up in time and blocked the tip of his sword, feeling the pressure from the blast numb my arms.

Pushing through the loss of feeling, I clenched my fist and punched up, colliding solidly with his chin. Eiji backflipped away but staggered on the landing. "Can't dodge in midair." I grinned fiercely, trying to shake feeling back into my hands.

With a shout Eiji sped towards me, but I didn't stick around to fight. My goal was to wear him down, little by little. This was real life, and when my blows connected they did _real_ damage; the uppercut had to have shaken him a little bit, or he would have been flawless like usual. That was why I wasn't using the dagger.

Besides. I wanted him to _suffer_ for what he did to Asuna. The dagger would be too _painless,_ and the viper in my heart hissed venomous agreement.

As I ran, Eiji's too-fast footsteps chased me. Good thing I work out. "For someone who talks so tough, you sure like sneak attacks!" he shouted at me.

I grinned. "Switch."

"What-" That was as far as he got before Kirito lunged, swinging his sword in a diagonal slash towards his ribs. Eiji was forced to jump over the blade to avoid Kirito's blow, but that put him in midair, perfect for me to strike. I slid towards him and kicked in a textbook roundhouse, slamming my foot straight into his gut and knocking him to the ground beautifully. Eiji rolled and bounced before converting the tumble into a slide, and he coughed as he staggered to his feet, shaking his head.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" I snarled. "And you can't see it coming. Your Future Step is _nothing_ like the real deal!" He needs to see the moves for the Augma to predict them. So, all we had to do was attack from behind or put him in a position where he couldn't dodge.

"Heh…" Eiji laughed. "Guess I can see why everyone thought you guys would clear SAO. You've got some moves!"

Kirito smirked. "Wish I could say the same to you!" he shouted as he ran towards Eiji. "Second rank my ass!"

He kicked forward at surprising speed, closing towards Eiji. Eiji snarled, though, and launched himself forward, faster than Kirito could move. Thanks to Kirito's reflexes, though, he was able to push off of his back leg and pivot out of the way, so Eiji's cross-slash struck the pillar right behind Kirito instead. The concrete exploded into dust that I _knew_ was virtual but still felt like it was going to make me cough. Visibility was impeded, and I stood back to back with Kirito. That way, one of us would be able to block no matter what.

"People only remember the players who fought on the front lines," Eiji said. Thanks to the environment, his voice echoed and bounced so much I couldn't lock down where he was. "But Yuna and me? We didn't fight. So we get treated like we didn't even exist!"

Kirito gasped. "Wait, you guys were _together_ in SAO?!"

"That's right!" Eiji shouted, bursting from the cloud of dust with his sword already glowing and halfway through a jump. My eyes widened and I raised my hands just in time for him to slam down. Like I half-expected from a jumping slash, the power was ridiculously strong and I was slammed backwards, barely able to keep under me from the block. Before I could recover, Eiji appeared in front of me like he hadn't crossed the distance between and slashed me –

\- and his sword clashed against my dagger. I'd finally brought it out, pushed to the point of needing the weapon. It stopped the damage, but I was still knocked off my feet as he passed by me from the sheer momentum behind his blow. I crashed to the ground and slid, the pavement rough against my side. "And I was with her at the end! I watched her vanish!" Eiji shouted as he rushed to the side, his suit trailing purple lights as he closed on Kirito incredibly quickly.

Kirito swung, eyes wide, but Eiji grabbed his hand and smashed down with the blade of his sword. "I hated myself for being so weak!" Eiji exclaimed through gritted teeth. He slashed again, cutting Kirito diagonally across the chest. "The girl I cared for was in danger, and I couldn't lift a finger to save her!"

He chased Kirito and slashed, dragging his blade through the ground. It left a furrow of superheated rock as it passed, and Kirito barely managed to dodge out of the way. Eiji dragged it up one of the columns as he ran up the pillar, kicking off and spinning in midair towards Kirito. He grabbed Kirito by the arm and spun, throwing my brother into the wall with all of the momentum he had.

Kirito slammed into the concrete wall, and his sword went flying. I snarled and pushed myself to my feet, ignoring the pain sparking through my side. This was going to hurt tomorrow… I charged the pair as Kirito pivoted out of the way of Eiji's rage-fueled slashes that carved into the wall of the parking garage, desperately making his way towards the sword lying on the ground. I slid in front of Eiji and brought my dagger up in a gleaming arc, stabbing forward and intercepting Eiji's blade.

I didn't try to match his strength. I knew I wouldn't win, so I pivoted. My right fist snapped out and barely grazed Eiji's cheek, but I was already bringing my body around for another dagger slash. I had to keep moving, keep attacking, or I'd fall behind. Meanwhile, Kirito ran to the side while I kept Eiji busy.

I jumped back, parrying and dodging the blows from Eiji as I danced away from his hasty strikes. "Who cares if we take away everyone's memories of SAO?" he snarled. His body was moving so fast I really could see afterimages of his sword slashes. One of his blows carved through another pillar, sending a spray of concrete shards hurtling towards me. I weaved through them as Eiji jumped up and landed on another pillar for half a second before launching himself towards me again. My body bumped up against a pillar behind me, and he raised his sword. "We're doing them a favor!"

"You _hurt my sister_!" I growled, feeling the viper hiss in my ear. "Favor or not, you're going to suffer for that!"

"Rythin, hold him still!"

I didn't really comprehend Kirito's shouted order, but my body reacted without thinking and I lunged forward. Eiji's blow struck over my shoulder, smashing into the pillar I'd bounced against, and the viper hissed in elation as my hand rose, slamming into his throat. "Ghk!" Eiji choked as his momentum forced him against my hand and cut off his air supply.

Kirito lunged then, gripping at the back of Eiji's jacket and pulling. "Let's see how good you are without this!" he shouted.

Eiji's eyes widened as Kirito tore something free, and sparks of electricity crackled in the air. I kneed him in the gut and punched, making sure to crunch his nose properly this time before jumping away. He staggered to the side, half-bent clutching at the back of his neck as red blood poured from his nostrils. It splattered against the ground _oh so nicely, and the viper hissed in glee._ He glared at the two of us, panting, and then raised his sword. "God damn you!" he shouted, moving so much slower than before.

I braced myself to meet the charge, but a white and black blur passed by me as Kirito stepped forward with a slash. The two of them passed each other, pausing... and then Eiji collapsed to the floor while Kirito stood up, moving his hand to sheath the sword. I exhaled, feeling the rush of adrenaline leave my body. My heart was still pounding, but that just meant I needed to relax. "We all suffered, back then," Kirito said, turning to look at Eiji. "But I won't lose to a guy that rejects the past because he thinks _he_ suffered more."

Eiji groaned, totally defeated, and as I walked over his Ordinal Scale faded away. He'd been totally defeated. Now that he was in his regular civilian clothes, I could see a few wires sticking out from the back of his coat. Whatever Kazuto ripped free during the fight, that was the source of his inhuman abilities... A bodysuit, with synthetic muscles to enhance force? "Now do you wanna give me Asuna's memory back," Kazuto shouted, "or do you want to keep going?"

Still on his hands and knees, Eiji started chuckling. I snarled under my breath and stomped over, grabbing Eiji by the shirt collar. I am a hundred percent sick of his shit. "Alright," I said, "talk or I beat it out of you. _What's your plan._ " It was a demand, not a question.

"It's too late now," Eiji said, grinning at me like he'd somehow won. "Practically every SAO Survivor is upstairs."

Wait, didn't they all get the free Augma and ticket to the concert? Son of a - "Dad, we have a big problem!" Din exclaimed, appearing behind me. "Yuna finished her song, and then she just disappeared and now a lot of bosses from Aincrad are spawning!"

With a snarl I tossed Eiji to the ground roughly. "Bastard," I growled. "This whole place is a trap."

Eiji smiled, staring at the ground as he crawled over to a nearby concrete pillar and leaned against it. "In a few minutes," he said, "we're gonna start scanning the brains of every one of them and take their memories of SAO. Their memories of that _hell_. And then we'll bring Yuuna back to life."

"The fuck?" I asked bluntly, even as Kazuto gasped.

"What are you talking about?" Kazuto shouted.

Eiji tilted his head back to sneer at us. "Like I said," he replied, "it's too late now. And you can't stop it!"

Kazuto grabbed his Augma off his head and started running. Meanwhile, Eiji started cackling, like he'd totally played us. My lip curled and I brought my leg up in a roundhouse kick to his jaw. _That_ shut him up quickly enough, and I turned to run after Kazuto. I just barely caught up to him as he was slipping into the elevator, and it closed behind us. As soon as we were inside, Kazuto pulled out his phone and dialed Kikuoka. "Tell me you have something," he said without preamble.

"Okay," Kikuoka's voice replied. "So here's what I learned from Kamura, the company that manufactures the Augma. The drones flying inside the stadium are equipped with a special function. According to my source, they can boost the output of the Augmas wirelessly."

"So... what does that mean?" Kazuto asked.

"It means, if they run that brain scan inside the stadium, we might be dealing with something worse than partial memory loss," Kikuoka replied. Permanent memory loss? Spine damage? The elevator shook as it reached the first floor and we both got off, running.

I gritted my teeth. "That's... bad," I said.

"You said it," Kikuoka replied. "The scan could permanently damage the brain. It might even kill people."

" _Kill?_ " I repeated, my voice dropping the usual pleasant tenor I tried to keep. "Like the NerveGear."

"Just like it," Kikuoka said.

I narrowed my eyes. The viper hissed in my ears. "If anything happens to any of my family," I said almost casually, "I'm going to kill Eiji, and then I'm going to kill Shigemura. Just so you're aware, Kikuoka."

He sighed. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," he said. I didn't care. My statement of intent was clear.

Kazuto and I took the stairs two at a time, running up to the stadium; I led the way, since I knew where everyone was sitting. I reached the door and grabbed the handle, using my momentum to slam it open and let Kazuto in first. I followed shortly after that and swore, loudly and in great detail. It was total mayhem. The orderly rows and seating blocks had been abandoned as people shouted and moved, swinging their arms and jerking abruptly. It looked like they were performing some kind of performance piece, but all I had to do was say the magic words. "Ordinal Scale, activate."

Like that, I could see the true horror. It wasn't just one boss or two, this time. No, I counted at least ten bosses in a quick glance, and the red circles and columns of fire kept appearing even as I watched. Beside me, Kirito gasped in shock. "I'll get the professor," Kikuoka said. It was hard to hear him over the shouting. "But I need you to get everyone to take off their Augmas. Hopefully they'll listen to you - the Black Swordsman and the Diamond Tactician."

"We'd need Asuna for this," I grumbled under my breath, trying to figure out which part of the room was the worst off. Haha, just kidding, everything was terrible everywhere. I even saw The Skull Reaper, that damn bone centipede's rib cage crawling in and out like a creepy parody of inhaling and exhaling. Damn it, where are the others...? There!

The girls and Agil were where I'd left them; they hadn't abandoned their seats for the more crowded fighting arena of the center floor, for which I was grateful. I would never have been able to find them in time if that had been the case. I lightly punched Kirito's shoulder to get his attention and pointed to the girls, and he nodded. The two of us took off running, trying to get to them.

One of the bosses - a flying mantis... The Mantis Queen? I think it was something like that, at least - was flying around the stadium air, until someone below took a shot. I didn't see exactly what happened, but an explosive round detonated against the boss, sending it crashing into the stands a few rows below everyone. Asuna remained seated, with Silica standing guard over her, while Sinon, Liz, and Argo advanced on the stunned boss. Agil stood halfway between the two, heading towards the mantis.

A pillar of fire rose, immediately behind Silica and Asuna, and my eyes widened. Curses spilled from my mouth as I ran, somehow pulling ahead of Kirito and hitting the steps two at a time, desperately trying to reach the two girls. The fire split apart, revealing a familiar goat-headed boss carrying a massive sword in one hand. The Gleam Eyes... Bastard! You're not taking them!

"Asuna!" Liz shouted desperately, but The Mantis Queen chose that moment to surge up, and everyone in that fight needed to focus on them. I wondered if Argo was looking my way, but that didn't matter. I had to reach Asuna and Silica or _die trying_. My sides flared in pain, though, and I nearly tripped down the steps.

The Gleam Eyes raised its heavy blade over its head, and there was no way Silica's small dagger was going to be able to stop it from killing them, not with her rank -

\- until a shadow passed over me, and I stared with shock and a little bit of confusion as Kirito dove from the _railing_ above my head at the boss, his sword digging into its body as he fell. The momentum carried through, enforced by the game's own rules, and the Gleam Eyes toppled to the ground, Kirito hitting the ground a moment later.

"You idiot," I snarled, finally reaching the girls. Gods, if Kirito hadn't done that, watching those two die right in front of me... "You okay, Kirito?"

He was lying in a pile of the seats he'd knocked from the bleachers. "Asuna...!" he gasped, staggering to his feet. "You okay?!" A step later, and he tilted as his left knee buckled. Shit, he's hurt something. Which makes sense, he just dove like ten feet onto hard concrete.

"Kirito!" Asuna gasped, smiling down at him. I wondered why she and everyone else was wearing their Ordinal Scale outfits - they _knew_ better, which meant that they'd been forced into them somehow - before I shook my head and chased the thought away. Right now, the only thing that mattered was handling the bosses. I knew that none of the important people in this room would remove their Augmas unless everyone was safe or dead.

I stopped in front of Silica, and rested my hand on her head. "Good job," I told her, and she looked down. "Silica, look at me."

"But, I couldn't..."

"You tried," I told her, and she looked up. "That's what matters. You tried to protect her. Now, Kirito and I are gonna handle the boss. Keep an eye on Asuna for me, okay?"

Silica smiled. "Yeah!"

I glanced over at the other fight, and my eyes went distant for a second. They can spare... "Agil!" I shouted, and the dark man looked my way. "Over here! You're with me and Kirito."

"You got it," he called back, his voice a somehow soothing rumble over the high-pitched shouting.

The two of us approached Kirito, and I studied him. "Can you walk?"

"Y-Yeah..." he said, wincing as he put weight on his leg. Yeah. Uh huh. Sure.

Well, it'll have to do. "Agil, you're tank," I said. "Keep the Gleam Eyes's attention and cover Kirito. Special moves to watch out for is its breath attack, but Kirito and I should be able to interrupt it. Other than that, it just swings its sword around."

Agil nodded, holding his large axe at the ready. In front of me, The Gleam Eyes surged from its prone position, roaring in anger, and I circled to the side. Kirito couldn't move, so he was stuck on the steps; Agil would need to cover him, which meant that mobility was going to be my protection more than anything else. "Think we can handle it on our own?" he asked.

I laughed mirthlessly. "Agil, you remember what happened to this thing back in Aincrad, don't you?" He grinned, and I twirled my dagger. "Let's be about it!"

...

The Gleam Eyes roared as Kirito delivered a powerful slash to its chest. Stretching from the boss's left shoulder to its right hip, the cut blazed with blue fire, and the stupid goat boss exploded into confetti. "And stay dead," I muttered, letting my burning arms fall to the ground limply. Gods, I need something to drink... and a nice warm meal, and about thirty uninterrupted hours of rest if I'm being greedy.

The point boost gave us all a rank boost; Kirito was now number two in the game, and I was right behind him at number four. Agil was in the upper hundreds, and I couldn't see where the others were at the moment. If it weren't, y'know, a live battlefield, I'd check. Even as we caught our breath from beating the boss, another sphere of fire blazed into existence behind us. Oh come on! I panted a few harsh breaths before taking a deep breath and raising my dagger again.

With a flash of steel, a scythe cut apart the fireball and revealed the boss. A grinning skeleton's skull stared back at me, twirling a scythe that was as big as it was. It hovered in the air, its ragged cloak fluttering around it. The Fatal Scythe - and this time, Yui can't use her admin powers to one-shot the damn thing. It spun its scythe and then swung the wicked-looking blade at us, and we all yelped and dodged, jumping away. Nobody tried to block it, naturally.

Kirito landed next to me, and his leg buckled again. He barely managed to stay upright by grabbing on to one of the seats, and I winced. There was no way he could fight this thing the way he was. Hells, even if he was rank one in the game, I don't know if he could beat this boss.

As if it sensed our weakness, The Fatal Scythe flew up to the two of us. There was no way Kirito could move, and he desperately raised his sword. As if it would do anything, I raised my dagger, preparing to try to parry the massive scythe blade. The Fatal Scythe reared back, and then swung down -

\- and the blade slammed into a massive shield, held up by Yuna. The one that we'd seen in the park, wearing the white hoodie. The shield had a massive butterfly motif, and it cast an aura around us to completely block the attack. She yelped but held firm, keeping the barrier up even as The Fatal Scythe pushed on it. "Yuna!" Kirito gasped.

"Help me, Kirito!" Yuna gasped. "If we don't stop this, everyone here is going to die! Once the average of their Emotive Counters passes ten thousand, a high-output scan will activate and destroy their brains!" An emotive what now? I looked over at the stage, and frowned - there was a large panel displaying a number, about eight thousand or so, and a wave form. The wave form fluctuated and pulsed, as if it were a giant heartbeat. Huh. Guess that's an Emotive Counter.

"I'm on it!" Kirito shouted. He looked at me and nodded, and I nodded back.

I whirled and let out a piercing whistle, designed to catch the attention of anyone nearby. "Anyone who can hear me, listen!" I roared, feeling my throat start to hurt by the end of the sentence. "Take off your Augmas, immediately! This is an order from your Tactician!" Swallowing, I rubbed at my throat. Huh. I taste copper. That's probably not good. I had invoked my name, but it didn't seem to help. There was too much chaos around.

"It's no use!" White Yuna gasped, her barrier flashing as The Fatal Scythe slammed another heavy blow down on it. "My dad put the bosses in the other events so everyone here would fight, thinking it's part of the game." Admittedly brilliant, and if it weren't _threatening the lives of the only people in the world I care about_ I might have been impressed.

"Then what do we do?" Kirito asked her desperately, close to shouting.

"Go to the place we met yesterday! That was Floor 100 in Old Aincrad!" Yuna said, turning back to look at us. "Go there and beat the boss!" Beat the what now. "It's our last hope! Sit down, I'm going to unlock the Augma's Full Dive function now!" The Augma's what now.

"You can Full Dive from the Augma?" Kirito asked.

"The Augma's just a version of the NerveGear with limited functions," Yuna replied. "Now get going!"

With a surge, she shoved her shield forward and knocked The Fatal Scythe away from us. The barrier flickered, and Kirito nodded. I glanced at him and shrugged. "We're ready!" he said. Then, a gloved hand gripped his shoulder. I looked up to see Agil, as well as Sinon, Silica, Liz, and Argo standing behind us, eyes hard. "You guys..." he said. I stared at my catling, meeting her gaze, and hated myself for wanting to ask her to just remove her Augma and stay behind where it was safe.

I couldn't do that to her.

We all took a seat on the bleachers, the ones with larger weapons setting them aside. Kirito and I sat in the second and third seats of the row respectively, and the others sat in the row behind us. Before I could stop her, Argo hopped the row and settled down on my right, eyes daring me to comment. As a smart man, I didn't say a word, and her lips twitched. She placed her small hand in mine, and I squeezed gently. In front of us, Yuna turned and raised a hand. Her hand started to glow bright white. "Let's do this," Liz said.

"Yeah," Silica replied.

"Good luck Daddy, Uncle!" Yui said, swooping down to hover in front of me and Kirito.

Din flew over and landed on the back of the seats in front of us. "Mom, Dad," he said, "be careful."

"We will, kid," I said. Argo leaned against my shoulder, getting comfortable. She pressed a quick kiss to my cheek, and I closed my eyes as I put my arms around her. If we lost... We weren't. We weren't going to lose, but if the impossible happened I wanted to go out holding my girlfriend.

Beside me, Kirito said to Yui, "Guard your mom."

"Right!" the little fairy nodded seriously.

I looked to the side as Asuna walked down to where we were sitting. "Kirito," she murmured, sitting on the empty seat next to him.

"Don't worry," he said to her. "This won't take long. It's the only chance these people have," he said, even as she watched him with a worried expression. "And I'm gonna need you to wait here."

"Kirito..." Asuna murmured as he leaned over.

"Keep that safe until I get back, okay?" he said to her, straightening up. I blinked, curious as to what they were talking about. Did he give her something? I was on his other side, I couldn't see at all. Whatever it was, it was important, because Asuna sucked in a huge breath, her eyes widening.

We all sat back as Yuna nodded to us. Here we go... I leaned my head against Argo and let my body relax. Good, I won't fall and hurt myself. Then, as one, the seven of us called out in a firm and clear voice, "Link start!"

And then my vision went white. The next thing I knew, I was watching colors stream past my vision, all of my senses gone except for the vision. It was the log-in animation I'd seen the first time I'd Full Dived using the NerveGear. Heh... Talk about nostalgia.

When my vision cleared, I was in the sky, descending towards the open roof of a ruby-colored castle. It was a gigantic palace, and I realized what I was looking at. "The Ruby Palace," Argo murmured from next to me. I glanced around to make sure everyone was safely in and counted six other bodies along with me. Each of us was dressed in our Ordinal Scale outfits with our OS weapons and armor, and we were floating in some sort of shimmering rainbow bubble.

"Gonna sell any information about it?" I asked my girlfriend. She was too busy staring at everything, eyes wide.

"No way," Liz murmured as we entered the top of the palace and started plunging down into its depths. It was designed to be a gigantic spiral staircase set into the walls with a large, open center, it seemed, so I could see all the way to the bottom floor. "So this is Floor 100. The Ruby Palace!"

"Can't believe after two years, we finally get to take a crack at it," Agil rumbled.

Above us, the skylight we'd entered through sealed behind us, and I felt the first stirrings of uneasiness. The doors always closed when we started a boss fight, right...? Then that meant... I exhaled as I realized that the massive statue standing in the center of the floor wasn't a statue at all, but the boss we were going to be fighting. "What the fuck..." I breathed. It was beyond massive, beyond gargantuan, beyond any word describing the size discrepancy. We were as big as one of its _eyes_. And let's not even get into the gigantic spear it was holding. The blade was longer than Agil was tall.

As we fell, the eyes of the boss flashed and I yelped, "Oh shi-!"

The tip of the spear swung around and slammed into Agil, deceptively fast for its size. With a single lunge, the boss drove him into the wall.

Fuck. First blood to the boss?

The rest of us landed on the ground and the protective bubble popped. "Agil!" Kirito shouted.

I was more interested in looking at the boss itself. Its skin was pure white, and it was humanoid-shaped, almost resembling a woman. It was wearing some sort of long, dark red dress that fell to the floor to cover the lower half of its body, but its top was bare. The armor on its shoulders swooped like wings, almost, and a massive... sundial-like _thing_ stretched out behind its head like it was the world's most threatening hairstyle.

I just didn't have the words to describe what I was looking at, except for 'unnatural' and 'looks like a real fucker to fight.' Ruby crystals were set in the boss's thing, one at the base of the six points sweeping out like extra blades. There were five more above it, and four more on its head proper. In its left hand, the boss held the massive spear that had struck Agil, and in its right it held a massive, dark red claymore.

Its health bars filled up, and I counted. "Ten?!" I yelped. Okay, this is unfair, can we just fight Kayaba again or something?

The crystal above its head appeared, a bright red color. Its name appeared directly below it - An Incarnation Of The Radius. I see... Aincrad. We're fighting a literal incarnation of the world that had trapped us for two years.

This is gonna suck.

* * *

 **So as you might guess, trying to describe what AIncRad looks like?** _ **Kind of a fucker.**_

 **The OS Boss Fights in the original were… a bit weak? It's more along the line of 'How the heck did Kirito make it there and kill the boss in ten minutes' sort of weak. Hopefully, Rythin being there as well helped explain things a bit. He and Kirito are both strong players, after all, even if Rythin** _ **is**_ **a little crippled thanks to using his right hand for dagger and only palm strikes in the left. It's one of those things where he'll just ignore the pain if he has to, but will avoid it otherwise.**

 **Anyway, we're moving into the home stretch. Everything is awful, Shigemura's evil plan is working, and the gang is on a desperate mission to stop things before everyone gets their brain fried. I mean, Nick is all for just having them remove their Augmas and not get killed, but I think the others would be a bit upset at witnessing several thousand people getting murdered without trying to stop it. Of course, he's going to do what they want, so he's fighting too.**

 **Now, the thing is, a lot of the motivation got exposited during Kirito's fight with Eiji (and off-screen while Shigemura rants to Kayaba's electronic ghost). Some of it will be mentioned next chapter, but go read Hopeful Chant, the tie-in prologue story to Ordinal Scale. It explains a little bit about Eiji and Yuna, and more importantly shows Yuna's last moments in SAO.**

 **Meanwhile, Kikuoka is trying to find and arrest Shigemura. He seemed to be watching from the private rooms in the arena, but actually was just watching a video projection from the old Argus buildings. Also Shigemura has a huge guilt complex since he got Yuuna the NerveGear and he's doing anything in his power to bring Yuuna back from the dead, even as an AI – he's gathering peoples' memories of her and using neural networking to… Fucked if I know. He's gonna do wizard magic shit and turn the memories into an AI that has his daughter's personality.**

 **Many thanks to everyone that favorited, followed, or left a review.**


	7. Conclusion

_Above us, the skylight we'd entered through sealed behind us, and I felt the first stirrings of uneasiness. The doors always closed when we started a boss fight, right...? Then that meant... I exhaled as I realized that the massive statue standing in the center of the floor wasn't a statue at all, but the boss we were going to be fighting. "What the fuck..." I breathed. It was beyond massive, beyond gargantuan, beyond any word describing the size discrepancy. We were as big as one of its eyes. And let's not even get into the gigantic spear it was holding. The blade was longer than Agil was tall._

 _As we fell, the eyes of the boss flashed and I yelped, "Oh shi-!"_

 _The tip of the spear swung around and slammed into Agil, deceptively fast for its size. With a single lunge, the boss drove him into the wall._

 _Fuck. First blood to the boss?_

 _The rest of us landed on the ground and the protective bubble popped. "Agil!" Kirito shouted._

 _I was more interested in looking at the boss itself. Its skin was pure white, and it was humanoid-shaped, almost resembling a woman. It was wearing some sort of long, dark red dress that fell to the floor to cover the lower half of its body, but its top was bare. The armor on its shoulders swooped like wings, almost, and a massive... sundial-like thing stretched out behind its head like it was the world's most threatening hairstyle._

 _I just didn't have the words to describe what I was looking at, except for 'unnatural' and 'looks like a real fucker to fight.' Ruby crystals were set in the boss's thing, one at the base of the six points sweeping out like extra blades. There were five more above it, and four more on its head proper. In its left hand, the boss held the massive spear that had struck Agil, and in its right it held a massive, dark red claymore._

 _Its health bars filled up, and I counted. "Ten?!" I yelped. Okay, this is unfair, can we just fight Kayaba again or something?_

 _The crystal above its head appeared, a bright red color. Its name appeared directly below it - An Incarnation Of The Radius. I see... Aincrad. We're fighting a literal incarnation of the world that had trapped us for two years._

 _This is gonna suck._

* * *

 **Conclusion**

The boss stared at us, as if it was somehow offended that we'd made it up here to fight it. The cloud of dust from Agil's impact with the wall cleared, revealing that he'd had just enough time to block with his axe. The wall was still cracked and damaged, the impact having formed a huge crater. He was using both hands to struggle against the point of the spear, one hand on the blade of the axe to give a little more force. "So you're... the last boss of SAO, huh?!" Agil grunted.

Kirito gritted his teeth and brought his hand up to the hilt of his sword. "Let's go!" he shouted.

With the ring of glittering steel, we all unsheathed our weapons and dashed forward. It felt _good_ to be fighting in virtual reality again, where I could move as fast as my stats would allow.

Aincrad turned its attention back to Agil. With a heavy swing, it brought the claymore straight down, ripping a hole through the wall. Yeah, there was no way Agil was blocking _that_ attack. Once it was done with the axe-wielder, Aincrad turned back to us, its eyes flashing. Its arms spread and the gems on its head flashed -

\- as ten different-colored beams lanced out from the gems, arcing through the air at us. The red one aimed for Kirito and he dodged to the side, but I didn't have time to look any closer since I was busy dodging the blue one aiming for me. I jumped and twisted, flipping neatly through the air before landing on my feet without losing speed at all. Take that, Eiji. I can do cool acrobatics too. The beam of blue light stabbed into the ground where I'd been standing an instant before.

Behind me I heard loud cries, but I couldn't spare the time to look. They were female, though... which meant that Silica, Liz, and Argo hadn't been able to dodge the lightning-fast attack. Shit. The knowledge fueled my anger, and I poured it into charging faster. I pulled ahead of Kirito - which made sense, I was faster than him on a straight run in VR - and thrust my dagger forward. It struck some sort of barrier surrounding the boss, and I froze in midair as my momentum carried me against the strange shell. Electric sparks skittered across the barrier.

When the gems on the boss's head started to glow, my eyes widened and I tried to run - but it was too late. I was in midair and couldn't possibly move. The boss unleashed a massive blast of ruby energy, directly in my face. With a shout I went flying back, unable to control my flight. Something hard smashed into my back and I felt something shatter as all of my momentum bled out at once. A heavy crash echoed through the chamber. ...Did I just break something by flying into it at high speeds?

Head spinning from the impact, I gathered my wits and stood up from the rubble - just in time to see Aincrad rushing toward me, hovering a little bit off the ground and swinging the claymore towards my head. Before I could move, though, a green projectile shattered against Aincrad's barrier. A sniper rifle barked again and I looked to the right to see Sinon standing in the staircase set in the wall, firing repeatedly on the boss. Aincrad turned and its eyes flashed, and it swept a laser beam across the spiral staircase.

The superheated stone glowed red hot for a second before exploding in an impressive display of pyrotechnics. "Sinon!" I shouted, fist clenching on my dagger. She screamed as she was sent flying by the shockwave.

Suddenly, Agil came rushing in with a shout, his axe sweeping down in a massive blow. It slammed against Aincrad's lower body, getting blocked by the barrier again. Aincrad turned and thrust with its spear again, but Agil was able to block it. "Switch out!" he roared.

From above, Kirito leapt and slammed his sword down. The barrier glowed again, concentric circles rippling out like water where he'd struck it. "Switch!"

He jumped away, and two others jumped in. Liz and Silica shouted together, both of them striking the point that Kirito had attacked earlier. The blue streaks of electricity were more pronounced and the ripples started expanding faster and faster; even as Aincrad brought its arms up to guard its head, abandoning the attack on Agil, the barrier shattered like glass and the two girls struck the boss simultaneously, sending it reeling. "Switch!" Liz and Silica shouted.

I leapt from the pillar I was standing on and raced towards the boss. It had let go of the massive claymore, the heavy weapon crashing to the ground beside it. "Argo!" I shouted, before lunging into a handspring. As I was upside down, I felt someone rest their weight on the underside of my boots and I kicked out, acting as a springboard. I completed the flip to see Argo spinning in midair, her claws flashing out to gouge a hole in the boss's stomach. Just like the Floor 5 boss... only a little flashier, I think. Finally, I jumped, propelling myself forward at high speeds. I spun once in the air and slashed, dragging my dagger down the boss's side.

I landed and grinned, listening to Aincrad's shriek of protest. It slid back, our assault finally hesitating as we all gathered ourselves from the attack. Its eyes flashed _blue_ , this time, and I flinched - only for my eyes to widen as a strange sound echoed out. It sounded like something being distorted and played backwards. But I didn't have the chance to worry about it; roots erupted from the ground behind Aincrad, twisting and growing into a massive tree that loomed above the boss. As a pillar of light illuminated the tree, casting a shadow over Aincrad, I realized that our combined attack had actually damaged the first health bar.

A single drop of dew splashed from the tree and landed on the crown of the boss's head, striking the gem. As sparkles covered the boss and it glowed, the gems on its body turned bright blue. The tree faded away as Aincrad stood there, motionless, and the first health bar filled back up to full. "A heal?!" I shouted. This is bullshit.

"Shit..." Kirito growled. We were all staring in horror. With just the seven of us, there was no way we were going to be able to deal enough damage to keep up with that kind of healing.

"No way," Silica whispered.

Liz gasped, "Oh man... How do we beat that thing?!"

With a scream, Aincrad brought its spear up and slammed the butt of the staff on the ground. In response, massive tree roots ripped out of the ground, twisting and launching themselves toward us. I grunted in surprise and braced for impact, trying to figure out where the roots would twist to block it -

\- and the roots squirmed one extra time and smashed from above when I'd expected it to be from the front. I gasped in pain as the shockwave rippled across the floor but managed to keep my feet under me. As the smoke cleared, the roots squirmed, and I realized that only three of us had managed to escape the attack. Liz, Argo, and Agil had been tangled up in the vines, lifted in the air and pinned with no way to escape.

I jumped to the side as Aincrad released another laser beam from its eyes. This one swept from the floor straight up a wall, and I realized Sinon must have been hiding there. The superheated rock exploded again, and even though I couldn't see through the black smoke I knew there was no way she would have been able to escape the radius in time. To the side, Silica gasped and shouted something before running towards the boss. Aincrad's eyes flashed again and the girl was launched up in the air as the stone beneath her feet rocketed upwards.

Another piece of stone from the ceiling was launched as Aincrad's eyes flashed again and the two stone slabs met in the middle of the air, grinding and crushing against each other. Even though they cracked, I could see Silica pinned between the two.

Shit! I rushed the boss myself, seeing Kirito to my left jump at the same time. "Silica!" he shouted. Aincrad turned as the two of us attacked and it countered almost effortlessly. Its massive spear struck me as it simultaneously grabbed Kirito mid-air, slamming us both against the wall. I was pinned like Agil had been; the wall behind me had cracked from the impact, but I'd managed to bring my arms up just in time. Even with both of them crossed, blocking the point of the spear, it was still pressuring me and inching closer to spearing through my gut. Kirito was simply being crushed by Aincrad's hand.

"Kirito!" "Silica!" "Ry!" Agil, Liz, and Argo all shouted simultaneously in panic.

They were pinned. Sinon was probably buried in rubble and unable to fire a shot. Silica was being crushed by the telekinetic control over the rock, screaming in pain and agony. I was a few heartbeats away from being stabbed through.

"Nooooo!" Agil shouted desperately.

And Aincrad leaned in towards Kirito, its eyes flashing as it prepared to unleash an explosion of energy at him.

"Fuck!" I snarled, pushing with all my strength to shove the spear away. Despite my best attempt, the energy blast finished charging, and the spear inched closer, and -

Then a shooting star arrived and we were saved. A massive impact rattled the boss as a Sword Skill was unleashed, directly into Aincrad's left eye. The boss's control over the rocks slipped and Silica fell free. What was more, the point of the spear hesitated for a fraction of a second and I didn't miss my chance. I brought my legs up to kick at the blade. It slid up and over my head, smashing into the wall, and I was able to drop down safely.

As I fell, I looked up at Aincrad's head and my eyes widened. The cloud of dust from the impact of the Sword Skill cleared to reveal a familiar figure, her rapier driven into the remain of Aincrad's eye... "Asuna...?" I breathed. She turned and ripped her rapier out, flicking it as if she was removing blood from the blade. Her face was so fierce and determined, totally unlike the fearful expression she'd been wearing only a few minutes before. What happened, out in the real world?

"Asuna!" Silica shrieked as she fell.

Immediately, Asuna lunged and grabbed onto Silica, wrapping the girl in a hug. "I got you!"

"It's my fault!" Silica wailed. "You lost your memory because of me!

"No," Asuna replied. "Stop blaming yourself. It's okay now."

I couldn't hear if either girl said anything else, because the ground was rushing up to me at an abrupt rate. I twisted in midair, landing upside down on one hand. I pushed off and flipped, landing neatly on the ground. Quickly I jumped up to the nearby root structure, landing next to Asuna and Silica. The others jumped over a few seconds later, the binding debuff timer having worn out for Liz, Argo, and Agil.

"Hi guys," Asuna said, looking at us. She was still pristine, even if the rest of us were covered in dirt and bruises. "Sorry I'm late."

Agil grinned, and Argo folded her arms behind her head. "Nya hah hah! That's our Asuna," my girlfriend said. "Always fashionably late, even to _this_ party."

"Are you okay to be here?" Kirito asked Asuna.

Asuna turned to look at him and nodded with a determined smile. "I'm ready to fight. I'm not afraid anymore!" I grinned softly, glad that she found her courage.

"Good," Kirito said, almost whispering it.

A rifle shot rang out, the bark echoing through the boss chamber. I looked up to see Sinon standing tall, taking shots at the boss again. Thank gods, she was okay. The bullets splashed against Aincrad's skin, not really seeming to do any damage, but I grinned fiercely at the sight of the boss's face. The eye Asuna had put out had darkened, weeping a dark purple liquid. It was almost as if the eye had bled... What was more, the boss's face had twisted in an angry snarl.

It held out a hand, and the claymore lying embedded in the ground blade-first flew to it, tugged by invisible puppet strings. It snatched the sword out of the sky and flew towards us, letting out a screech of rage. The boss somehow _sounded_ angry, despite being a, well, a boss. Was it using some sort of emotive engine? We raised our weapons, preparing to fight -

\- and a rush of green energy surged over our heads, striking the boss and enveloping it in a whirling vortex of wind blades that bit and sliced at its skin. Aincrad was forced to end the charge and bring up its guard, protecting its vulnerable face.

That's... That's Sylph magic!

I turned and looked at the direction it had come from. There was a gap in the ruby brickwork, with sunlight pouring in - and an emerald green flash of light, rapidly approaching. "Kazuto!" Leafa shouted, waving happily as she zoomed towards us. "Sorry I'm late!"

"Daddy! Mommy!" Yui said, flying around Leafa's head. Was she riding on Leafa or something? "I brought everyone else too!" She gestured grandly at the opening where Leafa had come from, and my eyes widened as multi-colored flashes of light appeared. Red, blue, green, yellow, purple... Were they all the races of Alfheim?

Sure enough, as the figures drew closer I started recognizing some of the fairies. "This is gonna be fun," General Eugene said.

"Stay sharp, General," Sakuya scolded him, her kimono fluttering as she flew. Alicia Rue was flying next to the Sylph, grinning like a cat that got the cream.

I even saw Jun and Siune as representatives of the Sleeping Knights, and Recon too. The highest-ranked players from Alfheim had come to fight with us, thanks to Yui. I looked around, and spotted Din riding with Klein, holding on to the Samurai's headband. Heh. So that's where he was. "Hah!" Klein laughed, thumping his bicep. "We _rule_ in VR!"

The trio of Salamanders swooped low, slashing at Aincrad and leaving gaping red wounds as they passed. Above us, Sakuya and Alicia Rue held their hands out and chanted a complicated spell, both of the Lords unleashing powerful magic beams that bombarded the boss. Aincrad reeled back, shrieking -

\- and the chatter of heavy machineguns started up, gunfire raining down on the boss from above. Players from GGO had arrived to help, too, opening fire from the staircase set in the wall. "She's a big lady!" some guy dressed as a cowboy said. Wait, haven't I seen him somewhere?

"They're here too?" Kirito asked in disbelief. Beside me, Silica jumped up and cheered happily.

"Time's running out!" Sakuya shouted.

Klein threw his hand out. "Hit it again!" he shouted, and the Salamanders lunged for another pass at the boss.

Yui swooped down in front of us, a glowing ball of light in her hand. "Don't just stand there," she cried, grinning like an eager child. "You've got work to do!" She held her hand up and the ball of light glowed and expanded and enveloped us -

As the light faded away, I looked down at myself. Oh. Oh _fuck_ yes! "Now we're ready to kick some ass," I said, slamming my fists together. The Diamond Gauntlets crashed, an all-too-familiar sound ringing out. Yui's gift to us had been a complete restoration of our equipment from old Aincrad - everything I wore at the Floor 75 boss battle, in fact. The Bloodwyrm Scale Mail that acted like cloth armor with the protection power of light metal, my Diamond Gauntlets gleaming on my hands, and most importantly, the tooth-like knife strapped to my arm for quick access.

I immediately unsheathed the Nightblade and ran through a familiar pattern, my dagger tracing gleaming arcs in midair. I spun the weapon as a flourish and caught it, grinning madly. "Kirito, your kid is awesome," I said.

Everyone else had been given back their old Aincrad equipment as well. Liz in her assault waitress uniform, the heavy flanged mace in her hand; Agil with his massive, double-headed axe and green armor, and even Kirito and Asuna in the black and white outfits respectively, the Black Swordsman and Lightning Flash in the flesh. I heard a cheerful screech and saw Pina swoop down to land on Silica's shoulder, nuzzling at her cheek. "Pina!" Silica giggled, scratching her friend.

Even Argo had her hood back, complete with the rows of throwing picks and potions lining the inside pockets.

"I loaded up your save data from the SAO server!" Yui chirped, flying in front of us. "I thought you'd be more comfortable this way!" She even threw up double V for Victory signs. "I also brought your gear, Sinon!" she called up. I glanced at Sinon, smiling as I saw her familiar blue hair. She was in her GGO avatar, holding onto Hecate and staring at the rifle like it was a dream.

We all looked at each other and nodded. "Alright," Kirito said, raising his hands to grasp the hilts of his Elucidator and Dark Repulser. "Let's do this!"

He unsheathed them with the scrape of metal as we all cheered, "Yeah!" and launched ourselves forward.

From there, the battle turned to chaos, and I could only pick out what was happening thanks to watching Din's replay later, giving me the insight into what I couldn't possibly see or hear. The Alfheim fairies were using their ability to fly to keep the boss distracted, flying faster than the boss's lasers could track them. The whole while, the unceasing gunfire pounded away at the boss. I definitely could hear Sinon's Hecate bark as she fired, sliding down the roots from the boss's attack earlier; that sound was unmistakable, even in the heat and confusion of the battle.

Even as Sinon blasted away with Hecate, Aincrad lunged for her, slashing the claymore. Sinon jumped and the sword only cut the vine, leaving the boss vulnerable to Kirito and Asuna's well-timed attack. With twin shouts, Asuna and Kirito struck; Asuna's rapier pierced the boss's flesh as she struck like her namesake, and Kirito unleashed a Dual Wielding Sword Skill that carved gouges in the boss's chest.

The more sword-based fairies of Alfheim darted round like greased lightning, slicing at Aincrad and darting away before it could counter them. Eugene, Jun, Klein and Leafa... They were all swarming the gigantic boss like gnats. Even when a lucky hit knocked Eugene into the ground, it didn't slow them down. Klein got slapped aside as he flew away, careening into the wall from the force, but Leafa was unharmed. Even when Aincrad slammed the butt of its staff onto the ground, spawning entangling roots to grab at Leafa, the Sylph weaved through the deadly forest with careless ease. She was the best flier in Alfheim, after all. They'd have to try harder than that to catch her.

To the side, Alicia Rue, Sakuya, and Siune all cooperated to form a powerful barrier that protected Asuna and Kirito, since the two of them were frozen from their post-Sword Skill cooldowns. The roots that attacked them bounced off of the barrier and disintegrated from the reflected damage, destroying themselves.

But they weren't the only ones the roots were attacking. I looked up at the forest of roots plunging towards me -

\- and I grinned. Even carrying Argo in my arms - since her skills were specced for non-combat, supporting roles she couldn't move as well as the rest of us could - didn't stop me from effortlessly weaving my way through the smashing vines. How could they touch me?

After all, I could see everything they were going to do. My eyes burned red, and I was untouchable.

One final twist and turn and the roots provided a perfect stepping stone for me to jump. Argo nodded at me and I spun in midair, flinging Argo bodily at the boss. She spun, cloak flapping behind her, and then abruptly snapped open just in time to bury her claws in Aincrad's side. She kept going, of course, and the attack opened up a massive gash on the side of the white boss. A shriek answered our attack and I landed on the ground with a grin. That had been enough to break the attack, forcing the roots to stop expanding.

After the root attacked finished, Aincrad whipped its head to the side and forced rocks to rise. A few players from GGO and Alfheim were caught in the attack and were levitated up above the boss's head. Aincrad looked up and its eyes flashed, unleashing a blast of energy that exploded on the rocks. Unfortunately, they were probably out for the count, but that didn't mean that we were going to stop fighting. Racing across the rocks, Silica and Liz lunged, both of them jumping off of the floating rocks and smashing their weapons against the boss's head with a heavy metallic clang. Even while they fell, eyes hard, Agil jumped in the air and brought his axe down with a loud shout.

The force of the impact rocked the boss, denting its head, and a shockwave blasted out. The remaining rocks in the air fell to the ground and Aincrad shrieked in frustration, its one good eye flashing. We'd completed depleted most of its health bars, and I realized what was about to happen seconds before the sourceless blue light shined down on the boss, the tree appearing behind it again.

I launched myself forward. "Heal from _this_ , you bitch!" I snarled, my Nightblade flashing out. Unlike the rest of the wounds that we'd given the boss, _this_ one was a sick, pulsing green. That's right. Just a scratch and the poison of the Nightblade invades the body, doing its work. Aincrad stumbled, and I knew I'd put it on a timer, but that didn't stop the droplet of dew from falling from the leaf -

\- and Asuna shouted, "Hurry! Block it!"

The mages of the group responded to her call. Everyone with a ranged attack launched a blast, even Pina - I didn't even know the little dragon could do that! Machineguns chattered and Sinon fired her Hecate, and all of the attacks rocked the boss. The explosion made the boss shriek, and the tree faded away - without the boss regaining its health.

And now it's only a matter of time.

"You and me, Asuna," Kirito shouted.

"Right!" Asuna replied.

The two of them ran for the boss, swords at the ready. Aincrad, as if sensing their intentions, turned and shrieked, slamming the butt of its staff into the ground. The roots erupted from the earth and stretched towards them. Sinon fired, and Leafa sent out a blast of magic; the two blasts collided with roots seeking Kirito and Asuna, destroying them in a maelstrom of fire and wind. However, multiple vines slipped through. "Damn it!" Sinon swore as she racked her Hecate's slide.

Before the surviving vines could strike, though, Argo and I were there to counter them. Argo's claws flashed out, severing one vine heading towards Asuna, and I stood firm in front of one aiming for Kirito. I didn't even hesitate before cracking my knuckles and punching with all my might. The root collided with my fist and pulped itself. That's right. Don't mess with Future Step!

Kirito and Asuna flashed past me and Argo, aiming for the boss. I could only watch as they jumped in the air, lunging for the boss. Aincrad shrieked in rage and pain, thrusting forward with its spear. Kirito brought his swords together in a cross block, sparks flying from his swords as Elucidator and Dark Repulser shifted the course of the spear below him. "Switch!" he shouted.

Asuna raised her rapier - and my eyes widened as I stared at her. I thought I saw... I thought I saw a ghostly body in the air next to her, hand wrapped around Asuna's rapier hilt. The ghost of Yuuki fought with Asuna as her rapier flashed with a purple light, the exact color of purple that Yuuki's sword had glowed when I fought her in the arena and she used her trump card. The skill effects glowed and flapped, almost like angelic wings as Asuna rocketed forward, rapier striking in a ten-hit cross pattern that crossed from the boss's shoulders to hip, making an X in the direct center of its chest. With a shout, Asuna thrust her rapier forward in the eleventh hit of Mother's Rosario, blasting through Aincrad's chest and leaving a gaping hole. Purple flames burned as Aincrad rocked backwards.

Then it was Kirito's turn, his dual blades glowing with blue fire as he unleashed Stardust Stream, his most reliable Sword Skill. Over and over he slashed at the boss, leaving scores of slashes on the boss's body. I lost count of how many times he struck before finally he launched in the air, his Elucidator plunging down towards the boss's head. He shouted as he fell, and Aincrad's mouth opened in a silent scream of rage as it looked up, and Kirito's blade slashed the head in half.

A final cry echoed through the Ruby Palace as the boss, An Incarnation Of The Radius, glowed with an impossibly bright golden light - and exploded in a detonation of energy, rocking all of us.

When the light cleared, we were standing alone in the battleground. All of the rubble and debris from the fight had been cleared up, except for the one broken pillar that I'd cracked with my body, for whatever reason. Motes of what looked like tiny stars drifted down from above, glittering in the light. Suddenly, a golden pattern lit up underneath our feet, tracing out a complex circular design. All of the motes of light rushed together in the air above the circle and formed a massive sword, hovering in the air. It was a gigantic, two-sided blade with a clear blue crystal set in the middle.

As it floated down it shrank, until it finally landed in Kirito's arms. The Last Attack Bonus for beating the boss, huh? ...Guess he can have this one, since he beat the final boss the first time around, too. Even though it shrank as it fell, the sword was still as long as Kirito was tall, glowing in his hands with an inner light.

"Now you really _have_ cleared the game, Kirito."

My eyes widened at the echoing voice. Kayaba... He was... alive? Or, no, he was dead. But how was he talking? "Kayaba," Kirito whispered.

We all looked up at the light spilling through from outside as it grew brighter and brighter. "You only have one thing left to do," Kayaba's voice said. A bright light shone from the sword Kirito had won, making his shadow stretch out behind him as it glowed more and more, erasing everything I could see in its pure white light.

...

I stared down at the battles in the arena, watching from the private seats. There was a small hedge behind me, as well as a few comfortable seats. The glass between me and the rest of the arena lent a detached air to what I was watching, even as Yuna got knocked aside by The Fatal Scythe and crashed into the bleachers. I knew I should be worried, but I just couldn't seem to feel any danger at all.

"It's been a while, Rythin."

I didn't look to the side, even as The Fatal Scythe approached Yuna. The rest of the players were starting to fail, small groups being surrounded by the bosses they were fighting. "Yes, it has," I said. "Akihiko Kayaba."

The Fatal Scythe raised its weapon in the air, preparing to slaughter Yuna, but instead it froze. The scythe slipped from its skeletal fingers and clattered to the ground before exploding. The monster itself followed suit shortly after, shattering and exploding into the multi-colored confetti that accompanied every boss's death. A single slash had destroyed the boss, and the swordsman was standing there, his back to Yuna and sword outstretched. Kirito's black cloak flapped in the invisible wind.

Even though our true bodies were still sitting on the bleachers, he was down there, and I was up here. Still wearing our old Aincrad equipment.

"I've wondered what happened to you," I said idly as Kirito's rank increased. With a small chime, the marker above his head changed from a simple crown, the icon of the second-ranked player, to an ornate golden crown. Above Yuna's head, her own marker flashed as she dropped from first place to second. "They said you committed suicide by scanning your brain, but it was more than that, wasn't it? You uploaded your consciousness to the Internet. You're an electronic ghost."

"I am."

If I'd known... could I have saved Yuuki? Used the Medicuboid to scan her brain and keep her alive, even in the digital world? It might have been enough... I shook my head as I watched Yuna start making her way to the stage. I knew I shouldn't dwell on my past mistakes. "A long time ago," I said, "you said you gave me Future Step because I reminded you of yourself. That I had potential, or something like that. Was... that the truth, or another lie?"

Despite myself I looked over. Akihiko Kayaba was standing next to me, watching the fighting below with his hands in the pockets of his lab coat. Even after a few years had passed, he hadn't changed in the slightest. Which... Well, I guess it made sense, if he was an AI ghost. Yui and Din controlled their appearance at will, so if Kayaba didn't want to change, then he wouldn't. "It's been a long time," he said after a long time. "Even if it was true back then, it might not be true now."

"Mm."

"You've done well, Rythin," he said to me. "Making the skill your own, and not something you were given. I commend you for that." Slowly, despite knowing that this man was responsible for at least four thousand deaths and probably many more problems for the survivors, I smiled at the compliment.

I glanced at the man as Yuna took the stage, walking to the center. "You've changed, Kayaba," I said. I didn't know how, exactly, but the man I was speaking to wasn't the man who I'd talked with at the end of Aincrad, watching the floating castle fall apart.

A faint, almost invisible smile crossed Kayaba's lips. "You have your friend to thank for that," he replied. "I used to believe that the system was the ultimate authority. But he showed me there was something greater. An existence that transcends the system itself."

"My friend, hm?" The spotlights on the stage snapped on, illuminating Yuna in the exact center. "Never change, Kirito."

Then, with a deep breath, Yuna began to sing.

 _You gave me some words of kindness~_

Instantly, the mood down below started to shift. "It's Yuna!" the players shouted, their spirits rallying. I could feel the tide turning as they redoubled their efforts, charging the bosses and opening fire with their guns. The old SAO bosses weren't able to hold up under that kind of pressure, and I watched as even The Skull Reaper quailed under the assault. Below, Kirito swung his sword once, and two bosses were slain. He turned and slashed again, his hair and coat blowing from the force of the wind his sword created, and killed three more bosses in a single shot.

I chose to not pay that much attention to what Kirito was doing. The game was over, after all – this was just the pointless cleanup. The players had taken the momentum of the fight, and the bosses would inevitably fall, even without the Black Swordsman's help. Instead, I closed my eyes to listen to Yuna's beautiful song. It felt so _familiar_... "Do you know?" I asked Kayaba, without opening my eyes. "Why Shigemura did what he did."

"To revive his daughter," Kayaba replied, his voice calm and unflappable. "I suppose it's my fault in the end, after all, but she had been trapped inside SAO as one of the ten thousand players. She died, as I'm sure you know. Using one of my old systems, the Ordinal System, he created this game to attract the SAO Survivors and steal their memories of his daughter. Using those memories, he would create an AI personality, Yuuna, and his daughter would live again. Had I been in his shoes, and the man I used to be, I would have done the same thing."

I opened my eyes and stared down at the floor below, watching as Kirito wiped out the bosses. "I see," I murmured. "To bring back his loved one... I suppose I can't be _too_ harsh, then." After all, I'd do the exact same thing if it were a choice between five thousand people I didn't know and Kana, or Shino, or Asuna or any of my family members. Had Shigemura succeeded, and had he killed my loved ones to do so, I'd feel different, but right now I just felt some small current of sympathy for the man. "And what about Eiji?"

"The girl's friend," Kayaba replied simply. "He only wished to spend his life with her. He blamed himself for her death, you know. Perhaps this was his way of seeking recompense. I believe that the doctor had other plans, however. After all, the boy did spend the most time with his daughter. His memories of her would be the most complete."

...Ah. I see. So, Eiji was to be eliminated by the scan, another sacrifice for Yuuna to be reborn. While I hold a small measure of sympathy for Shigemura, I have none for Eiji. He was the one that hurt Asuna. He hurt Klein. He was the one that tried to break _me_.

"This will likely be the last time we meet, Rythin," Kayaba said, and I turned to look at him. Below us, Kirito swung his sword and sheathed it on his back, fading away to the cheers of the audience. "But please... Continue to grow. Show me what you and your friends can achieve."

Then, starting at his feet, his appearance rippled and faded away, disappearing. In an instant, I was left alone in the silent room, staring at where he'd been. Still, I smiled faintly. "Of course," I said. I closed my eyes, and felt the world around me fall away...

...and I opened my eyes on the bleachers, sitting next to Kirito and Argo. Din swooped down from above with Yui, the two of them cheering with the rest of the players at our victory. We'd done it. We'd fought and won, and saved everyone. Now that I knew what Shigemura's plan had been, I felt almost a little regretful that we couldn't find some way to save his daughter. Perhaps if he'd asked us, given us the choice to undergo the scan willingly...

The chaos finally ended and the concert attendees started to file out as the lights turned on. The eight of us made our way down to the stage, where Yuna had finished her song and was walking towards us. "You sounded great up there, Yuna," Kirito said as she walked down the steps and stopped in front of us.

"Thanks a lot," Yuna smiled. Then, her body started to glow with a strange white light, enveloping her. My eyes widened as everyone else gasped. "The data from my primary body was based on the resource script of the boss from Floor 100," she said, answering the question that we all wanted to ask. "Its language engine is what allowed me to move around. But the boss was defeated, and its data will be reinitialized. So now, I have to say goodbye to you."

She sounded so calm about this, even as she talked about how she was going to disappear. "No way," Kirito breathed.

"Isn't there something we can do?" Asuna said. "Rythin managed to save Yui's data when she was about to disappear, I'm sure he can -"

I rested my hand on Asuna's shoulder and shook my head when she looked at me. "Sorry," I said, to both her and Yuna. "But I don't have access to the servers where Yuna's data is housed. And... I just don't know how to anchor your data. I'm sorry, but I can't save you."

Yuna smiled and shook her head. "It's not a bad thing," she said. "I got to sing in front of a huge audience, so my wish was fulfilled! I couldn't be happier," she said as she walked up to us. "Before I go," she said to Asuna, raising her hand like she was cradling something invisible, "I have to give this back to you. Your fear of death is what caused you to lose your memories." A small, glowing ball of light gather in Yuna's palm. "But you overcame it and fought anyway. I'm sure everything will come back to you, now." Yuna pressed her hand to Asuna's cheek, cupping it gently.

The AI girl smiled happily as the glow around her body brightened. It got so bright that it hurt to watch as the white glow expanded, enveloping her body - and then faded away with a glitter of sparkles. The motes of light slowly drifted upwards. Yuna... As I watched, looking up at the last remnants of Yuna fade away, a spectral butterfly crossed my vision and suddenly a memory floated to the surface.

It was me, and Argo... We were sitting on a bench in town, one day, doing business. And an NPC band started playing nearby, a regular occurrence - until a sweet, clear voice started singing along. The two of us had searched for the singer and found a girl with brown hair singing along with the band, a small crowd of players already gathered to listen. Argo had recognized her as 'Utachan', or as she was more formally known, the Song Enchanter, by the blue dress she wore, with a pure white feathered hat on her head.

The two of us simply sat and listened to the song, until the girl finished singing. Argo and I hadn't stayed to speak with her after the concert was over, but I'd watched for a few seconds as players clustered around her, shaking her hand and saying thank you. And as I watched the lights drift away, in the auditorium, it was like I could hear an echo of her voice, singing her final song...

 _Smile... for... you...~_

* * *

I was not happy. My ears were laid flat against my skull, my tail was bristling, and I'm fairly certain my grimace was baring my Cait Sith fangs. "Argo," I grumbled.

"Y-Yes?" my catling replied, face red. She was doing her best to not burst out laughing, but I could see by the way that her tail tip was twitching she was having _way_ too much fun with this. "S-Something - nya hah hah - something wrong, Ry?"

I folded my arms and tapped my foot. I think, all things considered, I'm keeping my temper pretty well. "You said," I told her, "that you'd lined up a job for me, now that people have started playing ALO again. You said that they even requested me personally."

"Yeah?"

"Then explain why I have to use my Cait Sith Disguise!" I wailed, my face burning in mortification. Argo finally lost her battle with her mirth and started laughing hysterically, rolling around on the couch.

The disguise spell used another player character of the race in question as a base for the appearance it would grant me, plus a few randomizations like hairstyle, eye color, and clothing. When I originally unlocked the disguise, I had no idea how it worked beyond using another player as the base, so I asked Alicia Rue for a favor and she graciously allowed me to use her as the base for my Cait Sith disguise.

Unfortunately, she had oh-so-conveniently forgotten to mention that the disguise spell also changed my apparent _gender_ , to match the player scanned. I still think Argo and Alicia Rue schemed together...

In any event, I ended up with what I'd taken to calling my Bastet disguise. It was a short and dusky-skinned female, with a build almost identical to Alicia Rue; a couple inches shorter than my normal body, but nothing I couldn't adjust to almost immediately. Bastet's hair was long and wavy, falling to the mid-back and decorated with a few jeweled hairpins. The clothes were light and airy, seeming almost like something a dancer from the Middle East would wear. The ornate dancer's costume left Bastet's abs bared and had an asymmetrical skirt, falling lower down one leg and leaving the other bare almost up to the top of the thigh. Heavy golden bangles matched the necklace around the neck, even though they didn't detract from movement in the slightest.

The elaborate makeup was in gold tones, and Argo said that it looked great with the darker skin and golden hair. Basically, I looked like a slightly taller Alicia Rue, with a mostly androgynous but definitely feminine figure.

Naturally, I hated having to use it.

"W-Well," Argo finally gasped out when she managed to sit up and look at me for more than a few seconds without breaking down again, "I mean, so maaaaybe I stretched the details..." I doubled down on the glare, and she grinned sunnily at me. "Nya hah hah. The client wanted a pretty Cait Sith girl, so -"

"Then why not Sinon?!" I yelped, pointing a finger at the blue-haired Cait Sith. Sinon was just sitting casually on the other couch, flipping through a book. We were doing this in Kirito and Asuna's home, our base camp when we weren't in our apartment. "She's pretty! She's a Cait Sith! I'm... like ninety percent sure she's a girl!" Sinon's tailtip twitched. "Sinon, why don't you do this?!"

The girl looked up and studied me. Her ears twitched in thought a few times. "Because you look cute like this," she said, a faint smile on her face. "And because it's funny to watch you get embarrassed."

"Sinon!" I whined. "Why do you do this to me?"

"Because I hate you."

I sighed, looking at her mournfully. "You keep saying that, but I know you don't mean it," I wheedled.

Sinon just raised an eyebrow. "Maybe there's a reason I keep saying it," she offered, before going back to the book.

"We had a bonding moment," I complained, flopping down on the couch and resting my head on her lap, squirming a little bit to get myself comfortable. Sinon sighed, staring at me, but didn't make a move to kick me away. "We sat on the bed together, and you touched me softly as you bandaged my wounds, and we totally had a moment!"

"Nope," Sinon said flatly. Meanwhile, Argo was just cackling off to the side, enjoying Sinon's discomfort as much as I was. The tables have turned! Or maybe my girlfriend was just laughing at the fact that I was crossdressing. Again. "Didn't happen. I don't remember that."

"Si~non," I whined.

Her ears flattened and she looked away. "I hate you," she grumbled. "And it's unfair to look like that when you're complaining..."

Heh. I think from now on if I need something from Sinon and I can't do it myself, I'll ask Argo to convince her...

...

"The AR idol Yuna is making headlines again. During her concert at the New National Stadium, several boss monsters from Ordinal Scale appeared. The promoters of the show said today that it was a surprise event for the fans. In other game-related news, Kamura Incorporated, the company behind the Augma, revealed that their head of development, Doctor Shigemura of Toto Institute, has decided to step down."

The news broadcast cut to an image of one of Black Yuna's street concerts, and I sighed. "I hate when the news talks about games," I said. "They always make it sound so... stilted." Se-ver-al boss mon-sters. What is a boss, I ask as a robot newscaster, beep boop.

Kana nudged my arm with a grin. "They try," she purred. "Don't be so hard on them."

"Yeah but it's _every_ time."

The feed zoomed in on the little pet that flew around Yuna, and a tag popped up calling it - I swallowed water down the wrong pipe at the name. Ain?! And it was pure white, aside from those _ruby crystals_ set in its head... No way. No. I refuse. Absolutely not. "You okay?" Kana asked as she rubbed my back.

"Great," I rasped out through my coughing fits. "Need to learn to drink." Ow. Now my throat hurts.

I turned away from the TV on the wall. It was the night of the meteor shower - after a little bit of pressing and a solemn oath, Din spilled what Yui had been keeping secret about Kazuto and Asuna's plans - and all of us except for the couple in question were gathered at Agil's bar to celebrate Klein's released from the hospital. Plus, Sugu was back! Agil was cooking behind the bar and Klein sat at the counter nursing a beer while the rest of us sat around one of the tables. Klein's arm was still in a sling, but he was guzzling down the alcohol like he was perfectly fine.

"Bet you're glad to be out of the hospital," Keiko chirped.

Sugu leaned forward. "Yeah, how's your arm doing?"

Klein slammed the glass down and doubled over. "Ow!" he whimpered - before straightening up. "Nah, just kidding. It's fine. But," he said, glancing at the cast, "I'll be sticking to VR games from now on."

Rika grinned. "Thought you got to meet more girls in AR."

"It's no big deal," Klein said, waving his free hand dismissively. "Nobody meets their dream girl in games anyway."

The walking contradiction to his claim approached him with a plate of ribs. "Better pray my wife never hears you say that!" Agil said. "Yo, she gave up her ticket for your broke ass!" He jabbed Klein's arm with the plate before setting it down on the table.

"Ow, what's your proble-"

"Apologize," Agil said, folding his arms.

I shrugged. "I'd do it, he's strong enough to snap Klein in two like a twig," I fake-whispered to Kana, making sure our older friend was able to hear it.

"I'd back Agil any day of the week, even if _he_ was the one with the broken arm instead," Kana said, twisting the knife in Klein's ribs cheerfully.

"U-um, guys!" Sugu said abruptly, raising her hand to catch everyone's attention and distract from the budding argument. "I brought something back for everyone!"

My attention was immediately entirely on her. "Presents!" I cheered, Kana raising her fist and cheering along with me. "I knew you were my favorite!" Immediately, Shino, Rika, and Keiko turned their eyes on me, glaring at me flatly. Rika even made a quiet noise of irritation. "…I mean, uh. I don't have a favorite?" I asked, begging for mercy. Beside me, Kana snickered.

Shino rolled her eyes before turning back to Sugu. "Where was this boot camp you went to?" she asked.

"Shimane," Sugu replied as she dug in the bags next to her and drew out a box. I craned my neck to read the label on the front - 'Romantic Connections', the marshmallow type. Woo! Sweets! Even if marshmallow isn't my favorite it's still tasty! "The place we stayed didn't have computers. If I hadn't smuggled in my AmuSphere, I would have _died_ from boredom."

It's a good thing she did; if she hadn't smuggled in her AmuSphere, we might have just straight died. Rika and Keiko both giggled awkwardly, probably thinking the exact same thing that I was. However, Sugu popped the box open, and I didn't waste any time reaching out and snatching a sweet treat -

...that Kana immediately took from me and popped into her mouth. I stared at her flatly and she just grinned, throwing up a V for Victory sign. Sighing, I reached out to take one for myself, only to have the next marshmallow cube stolen from my fingers by Shino. I glanced at Rika and Keiko, keeping my eyes on them as I grabbed the _third_ sweet and ferried it back to my waiting maw.

"By the way," Klein asked as he reached out to grab one of the cubes, "where's Kirito and Asuna?"

"He said they had other plans tonight," Sugu replied. "Anyone know what they're doing?"

Oops. "Oh," Rika laughed, "who cares about them?"

All of you. Beside me, the look on Kana's face said, 'All of you.'

"If they're not here, they're missing out," Rika continued.

"Some friend," Klein muttered. "I get out of the hospital, and he can't even come by for a drink?! He can suck it!"

The samurai reached out for his glass, but Agil snatched it up before Klein could take it. "On second thought," the large bartender said, "you can buy your own drinks tonight. Y'all owe me for that ticket."

Klein gritted his teeth and lunged for the glass. Agil effortlessly pulled it away. "You greedy... You got that ticket for free, you cardboard-sword dealer!"

I chuckled as I watched him flail for the glass, only for Agil to jerk it away every time. I noticed that the pizza on the table had run empty and waved to Agil; he nodded and brought another pizza from the grill, sliding it onto the bar. I'd never had grilled pizza before, but it was pretty tasty. I got up and grabbed the plate, swapping it with the empty one before sitting down again and enjoying some fresh food. Mmm, delicious fats and carbs.

The girls giggled as Klein finally gave up trying to get the drink back and muttered, "Oh, whatever." I guess seeing Agil serve us without missing a beat finally broke him. "At least I got ALO... Now that it's hopping again, maybe I'll meet some _new_ hotties."

"Heh," Agil laughed. "Nope."

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask," I said through a mouthful of pizza, before swallowing it and trying again. "I've been meaning to ask, how's Skuld?" Klein just growled at me, and I grinned back mockingly.

I _am_ glad he's better, though. Apparently, everyone with memory loss would slowly regain it as the spine regenerated. All they needed to do was take it easy for a while and get plenty of rest.

...

After the party wound down and we all went home, Kana and I were cuddling while lying down on my bed. Apparently, it was her turn to sleep over at my place, even though we didn't exactly have turns for things like this. My cat Emmit, having sensed the romantic mood, was naturally being as obnoxious as possible, jumping up on the bed and rubbing against Kana - who had no problem fawning over my kitten - before jumping over her, stepping on me, and then jumping off of the bed.

I just sighed. _Cats._

"Hey," Kana murmured sleepily. "Y'know, I've been thinking..."

"Yeah?" I asked, my fingers tracing meaningless patterns on her shoulder and upper arm. "About what?"

"About us, mostly," she said.

I blinked. That's... usually not a good thing for her to be thinking about... "Oh?" I tried to keep the note of minor _total and completely terrified panic_ out of my voice, but I wasn't quite sure how well I succeeded.

Kana giggled. "Nothing bad," she said immediately, and I relaxed. Guess I didn't succeed all that well. "More like, we're going to start college in a few months, and... I was just wondering what we'd do about housing and stuff like that."

I tilted my head. "We're supposed to live in the dorms for our first year, I think," I said. "And then we can choose between dorms and off-campus apartment housing. Though from what I've heard the dorms kinda suck, so-"

Kana sighed and rolled over to face me directly. "For someone so smart, you can be really dense sometimes," she grumbled, flat eyes staring up at me. She didn't look impressed. "I'm talking about living together while we're in college. And... maybe after that, if we're ready."

My eyes widened a little bit, and I stared at Kana in surprise. She pressed her hands to my chest and watched me steadily, not saying anything. My throat felt dry and I swallowed, trying to ignore the apprehension in my throat. "Are you... sure?" I asked. I knew I wasn't... a good person. And Kana had decided that she might want to spend the rest of her life with that person. "It's a big decision."

Kana smiled at me. "I know," she said. "I'm not expecting an answer right away, but think about it, okay?" She'd put so much faith in me, that I could make her happy. I could see it in her eyes, the way she was watching me. She loved me, as much as I loved her. "But... soon?"

I have to give her an answer. And, no matter how terrified I am of the change, that answer can only be one thing. "Yes."

"Oh, good," she smiled. "Let me know when you -"

"No, not that," I said, and she blinked. "The first thing you asked me." I watched as her eyes widened and shone with emotion I couldn't read. Gods, what I wouldn't give to know what she was thinking... "Yes. I think I'd like that. Living together in the off-campus apartments."

Kana gasped softly.

"But," I continued, "for the other thing... how about we wait, a little bit?"

"What did you have in mind?" she asked me quietly, hiding her face in my chest.

I hummed in thought. "I think, maybe... After we graduate. Once we can support ourselves, we'll talk about it again. Does that sound... okay?"

Instead of answering, Kana hugged me tightly. My chest felt a little wet, but when Kana tilted her face up and kissed me, she was beaming. It was the happiest I'd ever seen her.

Yeah. I think that sounds okay.

* * *

… **It's done. Whoof. 63 thousand words of a movie!**

 **The fight with Aincrad was fun to write. Mainly because it's the first time I really got to write all of the characters cutting loose and fighting like the cohesive team that they are? I especially liked the 'everybody that's important ever!' joining in at the second half of the fight. A pretty neat way to give some minor characters screen time.**

 **And then oh my gods when Yuuki showed up it started raining indoors because I'm not crying, I'm not crying you're crying shut up.**

 **The chat with Kayaba wasn't something** _ **totally**_ **planned, but I felt like it was going to happen. Rythin was almost Kayaba's protégé, did you know that? It was something I toyed with when writing Chapter 3 of Nightblade before ultimately discarding. Still, it was more an infodump than anything – Rythin was curious and got his answers, so to speak.**

 **And then we come full circle. The original part of the last chunk was designed to be a parallel to the beginning. And the last part was designed to be a parallel to the stargazing scene. Keep that in mind if you ever go back to reread Nightblade 4's first chapter! Random fact of the day: Rythin (the Cait Sith Rythin) has several disguises for the different races. He also has an alt-account, a male Imp androgynous to the point of practically being female named Tsuyosa (because he's a dork and as a subconscious homage to Yuuki). He's aiming to develop Tsuyosa's skillset as a Jack Of All Trades sort of thing, with passable abilities with every weapon type so he can choose the best one for the job. Very physical-based, and little to no magic, though.**

 **As always, many thanks to everyone that favorited, followed, or reviewed. (and special thanks to hammiam and joshua the arcanis for working on the tvtropes page. why do you two do this to yourselves?)**

* * *

In the second edition of "The Complete SAO Incident Records", the following text was added: "There was a diva who gave courage to the swordsmen as they set off to fight... We must never forget any of the nameless players..."


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